Implementing EU Consumer Rights by National Procedural Law

EU consumer law affords a number of substantive rights to consumers. Often however, the protection of these rights is undermined as a consequence of the complexity and lack of knowledge in the Member States of EU consumer legislation and case law. This volume presents a comparative examination of the enforcement of these rights in the EU Member States, with an extensive empirical evaluation of national procedural rules and practices. Following a comprehensive assessment of the nature and characteristics of EU consumer law, the volume identifies and evaluates key procedural themes that shape the equivalent and effective protection of EU consumer rights in light of European Court of Justice case law. Alongside Impediments of National Procedural Law to the Free Movement of Judgments: Luxembourg Report on European Procedural Law Volume I, this volume offers the most comprehensive, empirically-driven comparative investigation of national civil procedure thus far undertaken in Europe. Using an extensive dataset comprising hundreds of interviews and responses to a multi-language online survey, it examines the rules of civil procedure in all EU Member States, and identifies their impact on the protection of consumers under EU consumer law. This volume will be of interest to all practitioners, academics and policymakers with a focus on judicial cooperation, civil justice and consumer protection, and will facilitate a better understanding of the impact of national procedural laws on the effectiveness of EU consumer protection.