Unfair Contract Terms in Business-to-Consumer Contracts in the Proposed Common European Sales Law
European Parliament publication, May 2012
9 Pages Posted: 11 Nov 2017
Date Written: May 1, 2012
Abstract
The Commission’s proposal for a Common European Sales Law aims to introduce an “optional” sales law regime for consumer contracts. BEUC, the European consumer organisation, is not in favour of this new regulatory approach as it would duplicate existing EU law, weaken the position of consumers in cross-border contracts by precluding the application of higher protection standards in many national laws, particularly in the field of unfair contract terms, thereby reducing consumer confidence and undermining legal certainty. The proposed ‘optional’ EU law would also bring to a halt what has been to date a highly successful development of an EU consumer law acquis, thereby preventing European consumers benefiting from the necessary modern and solid legal framework. This report illustrates the main flaws of the proposed CESL in the specific field of unfair contract terms.
Keywords: Consumer Law, Contract Law, Common European Sales Law, Unfair Contract Terms
JEL Classification: K1, K10, K12, K3, K39
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