< Back to previous page

Project

Consumer law in a disruptive society.

This project explores whether and how consumer law can better adapt to technological advances that lead to disruptive innovations, arguing that adaptability would ensure better protection of consumers in the European Union. More specifically, technological developments continue to emerge and challenge the existing legal framework of consumer protection in view of the legal gaps they create. An example is the platform economy, which introduced new market actors and contractual relationships and therefore blurred the lines between professionals and consumers. The European Commission aims to minimize the impact of such disruptions in the digital market, by addressing the needs of consumers through soft law instruments and legislative processes. However, processes like these can be timely and lead to gray areas where consumers are still under-protected. Thus, this project suggests that consumer laws that can better adapt to such disruptions would minimize the negative impact of innovation on consumers. To determine the qualities that consumer law should demonstrate in order to be adaptable to innovation, this research studies the existing consumer protection rules that were able to adapt to disruptive innovations and also explores the theory of adaptable legislation in general. Four elements are identified through this process: technological neutrality, flexibility, legal certainty, and a balance of interests. The project concludes that consumer protection provisions in the EU should reflect these elements to become more adaptable to disruptions and thus to better safeguard consumer rights in a continuously changing digital environment.
Date:16 Jan 2023 →  15 Jul 2023
Keywords:COMPULSORY LAW, CIVIL LAW
Disciplines:Civil law, Economic, commercial and financial law, Legal theory, jurisprudence and legal interpretation
Project type:Collaboration project