Better Regulation in EU Contract Law - (Studies of the Oxford Institute of European and Comparative) by Esther Van Schagen & Stephen Weatherill

About the Book

"This book is the first to provide a critical investigation of EU better regulation from the perspective of EU contract law. The Commission's 'New Deal for EU Consumers' is one of the first EU contract law initiatives to implement both the newly revised Better Regulation Guidelines and the newly introduced combined evaluation of multiple Directives in the form of a 'fitness check'. This offers an opportunity to explore difficulties and best practices at national level, as demonstrated by experience with the EU's Unfair Terms Directive. Both the fitness check and the impact assessment accompanying the New Deal should facilitate critical reflection on the design of EU contract law. This book addresses key questions such as: do impact assessments favour business interests, at the expense of a high level of consumer protection? Is the evaluation of EU contract law and the analysis in impact assessments in line with scientific standards? Has the fitness check revealed difficulties and success stories with EU measures at national level, and thereby facilitated an in-depth scrutiny of the design of EU contract law? Ultimately: is the potential of better regulation realised?"--

Book Synopsis

This book is the first to provide a critical investigation of EU better regulation from the perspective of EU contract law. The Commission's 'New Deal for EU Consumers' is one of the first EU contract law initiatives to implement both the newly revised Better Regulation Guidelines and the newly introduced combined evaluation of multiple Directives in the form of a 'fitness check'. This offers an opportunity to explore difficulties and best practices at a national level, as demonstrated by experience with the EU's Unfair Terms Directive. Both the fitness check and the impact assessment accompanying the New Deal should facilitate critical reflection on the design of EU contract law.

This book addresses key questions. Do impact assessments favour business interests at the expense of a high level of consumer protection? Is the evaluation of EU contract law and the analysis in impact assessments in line with scientific standards? Has the fitness check revealed difficulties and success stories with EU measures at national level, and thereby facilitated an in-depth scrutiny of the design of EU contract law? Ultimately, is the potential of better regulation being realised?

About the Author

Esther van Schagen is Lecturer at the Molengraaff Instituut, Utrecht University.
Stephen Weatherill is Jacques Delors Professor of European Law at the University of Oxford.