- Overview
- Module description
Ec Consumer Protection (LAWM645)
This module description relates to the academic year 2012/3.
| Lecturer(s) | |
|---|---|
| Module level | M |
| Credit Value | 15.00 |
| ECTS Value | 7.5 |
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Co-requisites | None |
| Duration of Module | One term |
| Total Student Study Time | 150 hours (5 x 3hrs Seminar; 135 hrs independent study) |
Aims
This module aims at providing a critical understanding of the development of European consumer law as a key area of European Community law. It focuses on the activity of the Community legislature, the case law of the European Court of Justice and the relationship between the supra-national EC system and domestic regimes. The course also
Each seminar is illustrated with practical case studies, so that students understand how European consumer law impacts on their everyday lives.
Intended Learning Outcomes
Module-specific skills:
Students will have acquired a good understanding of the general principles underpinning EC consumer law. In particular, they will have grasped how this branch of the law has developed to increase the rights available to European consumers.
Students will have acquired the necessary knowledge to have their own informed opinions on legislative debates relating to topical issues such as patient mobility, air passengers' rights, the role of consumer law in fighting the obesity epidemic, food advertising, children advertising, consumer credit.
Discipline-specific skills:
Ability to identify legal problems relating to consumer protection in the EU.
Ability to use primary sources of EU law and secondary literature to solve these problems.
Ability to identify gaps in the existing legislation.
Personal and key skills:
Ability to conduct thorough research and convincingly present an argument both orally and in writing.
Ability to act as better-informed consumers by applying the acquired knowledge in daily life situations.
Learning/Teaching Methods
The main teaching method consists of fortnightly seminars.
All seminars are based on practical case studies that should illustrate the general principles at stake and allow students to understand the importance of European consumer law to specific categories of consumers (online buyers, tourists, air passengers, parents, patients).
All students will produce a seminar paper and present it to the group. The topics of the presentations will be agreed depending on students' research interests.
Assignments
One seminar essay not exceeding 3,750 words forming the basis of a short presentation of about 40 minutes to the group.
Assessment
Assessment of this module is in the form of one assessed essay, not exceeding 3,750 words.
Syllabus Plan
Seminar 1: the development of EC consumer law - from a flanking to a fully-fledged policy
Seminar 2: the question of competence - how far can the European Union legislate?
Seminar 3: the choice between various forms of regulation: regulation v. individual freedom; legislation v. self-regulation; quality standards v. bans - how far should the European Union legislate?
Seminar 4: the Europeanisation of consumer law - towards a European consumer?
Seminar 5: the enforcement of consumer rights and access to justice
Indicative Basic Reading List
Primary sources:
- European Union legislation available at: http://europa.eu
See in particular the WebPages of the Commission on:
* consumer affairs: http://europa.eu/pol/cons/index_en.htm
* public health: http://europa.eu/pol/health/index_en.htm
* food safety: http://europa.eu/pol/food/index_en.htm
- Case law of the European Court of Justice available at: http://curia.eu
Course textbook:
S. Weatherill, EU Consumer Law and Policy , Edward Elgar (European Law Series), 2005
H. Micklitz, N. Reich and P. Rott, Understanding EU Consumer Law , Intersentia, 2009
Other material:
- P. Craig and G. De Burca, EU Law - texts, cases and materials , OUP, 2002 (3 rd edition)
- G. Howells and S. Weatherill , Consumer Protection Law , Ashgate, 2005 (2 nd edition)
- J. Stuyck, "European Consumer Law after the Treaty of Amsterdam : Consumer Policy in or beyond the Internal Market?", 37 Common Market Law Review (2000) 367-400
- Website of the European Bureau of Consumer Associations (BEUC): http://www.beuc.org
