What views on consumers inform the development of
the law in the EU? Professor Stephen Weatherill and Dr Dorota Leczykiewicz are starting a research project on this theme, the results of which are planned
to be presented at a conference in Oxford next year. The project is summarised
as follows:
'The purpose of the project is to
invite experts in EU, consumer and competition law to explore the different "images" of the consumer in different contexts of EU law. The project’s theme
is inspired by the persisting questions about how many visions of the consumer
there are in EU law, and whether they are consistent and sincere, or merely
instrumental to the achievement of other goals. Are the different types of "consumer" we find scattered across EU law apt reflection of rich diversity or
do they create a troublingly chaotic landscape? Discussing these questions is
particularly timely a few years after the Treaty of Lisbon, which reformed
Union objectives to include a "social market economy" and vested the Charter of
Fundamental Rights, elevating "consumer protection" to the status of a
fundamental right, with a binding force. The project will culminate with a
conference to be held at St Anne’s College, Oxford, on 27-28 March 2014.'
For more information, please refer to the University of Oxford's website.
