European Consumer Policy after Maastricht
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European Consumer Policy after Maastricht raises both `horizontal' and `vertical' issues of consumer policy in the European Community and associated countries. The work was prompted by three important `constitutional' events in Europe: the completion of the Internal Market on 31 December 1992, the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty on Political Union, and the conclusion of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA). The `horizontal' papers in Part I are concerned both with analyzing the `acquis' of consumer policy in Europe and with new directions as well as obstacles. The keynote paper by Micklitz and Weatherill gives an overall analysis of the political and legal bases of consumer policy from both the Internal Market and the Political Union perspectives. It is followed by two papers on subsidiarity by Gibson and Dahl which take up and clarify a somewhat confusing and irritating discussion in the EC. Lothar Maier is concerned with the function and role of the Consumer's Consultative Council in the EC of which he is the President; Monique Goyens with the opportunities and especially the shortcomings of consumer interest lobbying in the EC by her association, BEUC. The papers by Schmitz, Micklitz, Wilhelmsson and Krämer raise controversial and still unresolved policy and legal issues which go beyond traditional consumer policy via directives, e.g. in commercial marketing, cross-border litigation, contract law matters and conflicts between consumer and conflicts between consumer and environmental policy. Part II is concerned with national perspectives. The individual country reports relate to the EC and EEA countries and to Switzerland. They document the diverse — sometimes protective, sometimes disturbing — impact of EC lawmaking on national legislation, court practice and enforcement. They demonstrate that law harmonization is a painstaking process towards the goal of creating a European legal area with common protective standards.
Introductory RemarksConsumer Policy in the European Community: Before and after Maastricht3Subsidiarity: The Implications for Consumer Policy41Consumer Protection within the European Union63Institutional Consumer Representation in the European Community73Where There's a Will, There's a Way! A Practioner's View93Advertising and Commercial Communications - Towards a Coherent and Effective EC Policy105Cross-Border Consumer Conflicts - A French-German Experience129Control of Unfair Contract Terms and Social Values: EC and Nordic Approaches153On the Interrelation between Consumer and Environmental Policies in the European Community173Minimum Implementation of Minimum Directives? Consumer Protection in Austria in the Context of European Integration189The Importance of Community Law for French Consumer Protection Legislation209The European Influence on German Consumer Law225Completion of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection in Greece237Implementation of EEC Consumer Protection Directives in Italy249Implementation of EEC Consumer Protection Directives in Spain269The Internal Market and Consumer Protection in Norway287The Development of Portuguese Consumer Law with Special Regard to Conflict Resolution299The Effect of the EEA Agreement on Consumer Protection Interests in Sweden309Completion of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection - The Specific Case of Switzerland321
