Business-to-Consumer Harassment, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the UK—A Distorted Picture of Uniform Harmonization?

Osuji, Onyeka K.

doi:10.1007/s10603-011-9175-4

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This is in line with previous literature, as, e.g., Collins (2010). Osuji (2011) suggests that the UCPD may only be a first step to full harmonization and therefore only provides a very low consumer protection level. The UCPD appears to strongly affect countries with a very low pre-UCPD consumer protection level.…”

Section: Identification Strategysupporting

confidence: 92%

“…As most studies suggest, the UCPD may be a first step to full harmonization in terms of consumer protection and to contribute to the goal of a digital single market. Among others, especially Collins (2010) and Osuji (2011) state that the UCPD alone will not be sufficient for full harmonization. This is especially relevant concerning our results.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Consumer Protection in the Digital Age: Evidence from the European Union

2020

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We investigate the effect of an EU-wide consumer protection regulation on consumer trust as well as consumer behavior. The Unfair Commercial Practice Directive (UCPD) was implemented by EU member states between 2007 and 2010. We utilize data from the Special and Flash Eurobarometer for the years between 2006 and 2014 and experts' evaluation on consumer protection levels before the introduction of the regulation. This rich data set allows us to apply a difference-in-difference estimator with multiple time periods. We find a significant relationship between the introduction of the UCPD and consumer trust and cross-border purchases for countries with a low consumer protection level before the introduction of the UCPD. The relationship increases over time and stays then relatively constant.

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Section: Identification Strategysupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Consumer Protection in the Digital Age: Evidence from the European Union

2020

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“…UCPD). It is argued that UCPD conflicts with strong conceptual disparities in EU member state's laws (Osuji, 2011) and is undermined by the ambiguity of its purposes (MacGregor Pelikánová et al, 2017) .…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harmonization of the protection against misleading commercial practices: ongoing divergences in Central European countries

Pelikánová

2019

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Research background: Modern European integration focuses on competition in the internal single market, embracing both competitiveness and consumer protection, and it aims at full harmonization in this arena. The hallmark, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive from 2005, aims to overcome diverse social, political, legal and economic traditions. Is the implied protection against misleading practices an opportunity or a threat for Central European Regions? Purpose of the article: The primary purpose is to comparatively describe and critically assess the transposed legal frameworks. The secondary purpose is to study and evaluate their coherence in the light of the case law and their impact in Central Europe, in particular whether it represents an opportunity or a threat for the smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, i.e. boosting competitiveness and innovation along with consumer welfare. Methods: The cross-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional nature of this paper, and its dual purposes, implies the use of Meta-Analysis, of various interpretation techniques suitable for legal texts and judicial decisions, of the critical comparison and of a holistic assessment of approaches and impacts. Legislation and case law are explored and the yielded knowledge and data are confronted with a field search and case studies. The dominating qualitative research and data are complemented by the quantitative research and data. Findings & Value added: For over one decade, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive has required full harmonization of the protection against, among other items, misleading commercial practices, by legislatures and judges in the EU. The exploration pursuant to the two purposes suggests that this ambitious legislative and case law project entails a number of transposition approaches with varying levels of coherence, importance and impacts on the competitiveness and innovation of business and consumer welfare in Central Europe. Therefore, full harmonization should be either readjusted or relaxed.

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“…Until 2005, EU member states have been dealing individually and particularly with unfair competition practices (Margoni 2016), including unfair commercial practices of businesses towards consumers, except for a few harmonization EU efforts to protect consumers. Then, the EU crossed the Rubicon and moved directly to the very strongly unifying harmonization, the full harmonization by the UCPD, despite strong conceptual disparities in EU member states' laws (Osuji 2011). Namely, the UCPD was adopted to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal single market and achieve a high level of consumer protection by approximating laws (Art.1 UCPD) and this should be done by a full harmonization (Art.4 UCPD).…”

Section: Literature and Legislative Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Analysis of the Case Law of the Court of Justice of Eu on the Unfair Commerical Practices

Pelikánová¹

2019

AAK

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The EU ten years long strategy, Europe 2020, is coming up to its final assessment, including the interplay of both the competition and consumer protection in the internal single market. The pivotal legislative instrument in this respect, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive ("UCPD"), was enacted even before Europe 2020 and was supposed to lead to a full harmonization of the protection against unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices, regardless whether misleading or aggressive, by the year 2007. The judiciary answer whether this has been achieved and supports the EU is to be learned from the competent court-Court of Justice of EU. A deep research is performed to provide data for a holistic Meta-Analysis which comparatively and critically assesses this strong, but not yet fully settled, case law consisting of almost 100 UCPD cases, and to expose it to the legislative wording, official EU statements and academic press. The key hypothesis suggests that the study of this case law in the light of the legislative wording, along with the official opinions of the EU and academic literature, provides valuable insights and suggestions about the status quo of achievements of the UCPD and Europe 2020 as well as the commitment of the EU and the attitude of the ultimate stakeholders, Europeans.

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Business-to-Consumer Harassment, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the UK—A Distorted Picture of Uniform Harmonization?

Abstract: Consumer protection, Directive on Consumer Rights, Harassment, Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive,

Cited by 8 publications

References 36 publications

The Impact of Consumer Protection in the Digital Age: Evidence from the European Union

The Impact of Consumer Protection in the Digital Age: Evidence from the European Union

Harmonization of the protection against misleading commercial practices: ongoing divergences in Central European countries

The Analysis of the Case Law of the Court of Justice of Eu on the Unfair Commerical Practices

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