The Behaviour of the Average Consumer: A Little Less Normativity and a Little More Reality in the Court's Case Law? Reflections on Teekanne

41 European Law Review, 2016, p.590-598

23 Pages Posted: 8 Jun 2016 Last revised: 22 Aug 2023

See all articles by Hanna Schebesta

Hanna Schebesta

Wageningen University and Research (WUR) - Law and Governance Group

Kai P. Purnhagen

University of Bayreuth; Erasmus University of Rotterdam - Rotterdam Institute of Law and Economics

Date Written: June 6, 2016

Abstract

In Teekanne, the Court of Justice held that the labelling of foodstuffs may not give the impression that an ingredient is present in a product where it is in fact not present, and this is apparent solely from the list of ingredients on the packaging. The judgment marks a significant realignment of previous cases that had considered the behaviour of consumers regarding the list of ingredients. In prior case law the Court had found consumers to be adequately protected if they had the possibility to gather the respective information from the list of ingredients. In Teekanne, the Court stipulated that such information of the ingredients list is not able to “correct” a “consumer’s erroneous or misleading impression” created by the “overall labelling” taken as a whole. The ruling is potentially the first case in a series of judgments that understands the “average consumer” in a less normative way, and opens up to arguments about the real-world vulnerability levels of consumers.

Keywords: Unfair Commercial Practices, EU law, Average Consumer, Behavioural Law

Suggested Citation

Schebesta, Hanna and Purnhagen, Kai Peter, The Behaviour of the Average Consumer: A Little Less Normativity and a Little More Reality in the Court's Case Law? Reflections on Teekanne (June 6, 2016). 41 European Law Review, 2016, p.590-598, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2790994

Hanna Schebesta (Contact Author)

Wageningen University and Research (WUR) - Law and Governance Group ( email )

Hollandseweg 1
Wageningen, 6706KN
Netherlands

Kai Peter Purnhagen

University of Bayreuth ( email )

Universitatsstr 30
Bayreuth, D-95447
Germany

Erasmus University of Rotterdam - Rotterdam Institute of Law and Economics ( email )

Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
PO box 1738
Rotterdam, 3000 DR
Netherlands

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