Historical background of consumer rights development in the EU

AuthorIris Berisha
Pages70-78
Vo
l.
5
N
o
. 2
J
u
ly
, 2019
A
cademic Journal o
f
Business,
A
dministration, Law and Social Science
s
II
PCCL Publishin
g
, Graz-
A
ustri
a
I
SSN 2410-391
8
A
cces online at www.ii
p
ccl.or
g
7
0
Historical background of consumer rights development in the E
U
r
s B
r
sh
Abs
tr
ac
t
T
he consumer’s rights in the
E
uropean
U
nion are very developed. The
E
uropean
U
nion has
a
lways devoted a special interest to the rights and protection of consumers, an interest re ected
i
n the policy pursued in this area and the entirety of approved acts, altered and developed
o
ver the years. Regarding the entirety of the regulatory acts that it contains, the consumer’s
r
ight in the
E
uropean
U
nion forms a consumer acquis within the acquis communautaire
.
E
uropean Consumer Law consists of a whole set of acts relating to consumer rights, information,
e
ducation, security and protection. There are adjustments regarding the safety and quality o
f
products and services to consumers, labeling and packaging of products, regulation related
t
o trading practices for consumer protection, there are also arrangements regarding consumer
c
ontracts, protecting consumer interests and resolving disputes between consumers and
t
raders in the
E
uropean
U
nion.
A
nd the jurisprudence of the
E
uropean Court of Justice has a
c
onsiderable contribution to
E
uropean consumer law
.
T
his material aims to present and analyze the developments of consumer law in the
EU
.
Ke
y
words:
C
onsumer rights,
EU
, Historical Background, development.
I
ntr
odu
ct
io
n
I
t s
h
ou
ld
b
e ac
k
now
l
e
d
ge
d
t
h
at t
h
e consumer as an actor in t
h
e mar
k
et
h
as not
b
een
there since Meso
p
otamian or Roman times but has develo
p
ed during the course o
f
the
c
ommercia
l
p
erio
d
(mercanti
l
ist) an
d
in
d
ustria
l
ization.
1
But in ancient Rome, t
h
ere
are traces o
f
s
p
ecial a ention
p
aid to consumers, even though the
y
were not known
at that time. The histor
y
o
f
the civil law s
y
stem is mainl
y
the stor
y
o
f
two
p
eriods:
that o
f
Roman law and that o
f
modern law, which begins with the "re-discover
y
" o
f
R
oman
l
aw in t
h
e X
I
centur
y.
2
I
n Roman law we can
nd some cases in which s
p
ecial a ention is
p
aid to the de
f
ense
o
f
the weaker
p
art
y
in the contract. For exam
p
le in terms o
f
sales contracts, i
f
the
p
ric
e
3
was not
f
air, there
f
ore, did not corres
p
ond to the true value o
f
merx at the
m
oment o
f
the contract, classical law sanctioned the legal remedies in the
f
orm o
f
s
anction (dolus malus) the dece
p
tion o
f
one
p
art
y
to the detriment o
f
the other, such as
s
a
l
e un
d
er t
h
e
p
rice, ma
d
e conscious
ly
by
t
h
e se
ll
er an
d
t
h
at on t
h
e
p
rice, conscious
ly
acce
p
ted b
y
the bu
y
e
r
4
.
Price is an essential element o
f
this t
yp
e o
f
contract.
E
ven
n
owada
y
s consumers are o
ered
p
rotection against un
f
air
p
ricing.
1
Legal Studies Magazine 2,
U
nfair terms in consumer contracts. Current develo
p
ments in the
EU
a
nd
p
ossible im
p
act on
A
lbanian civil law - Dr. Nada Dollani, Tiranë 2011 –
p
g 77.
2
Dr.
E
nkeleda
O
lldashi, Roman Law, MediaPrint, the rst edition, f
q
. 1
.
3
The
p
rice should be clear, in cash and not in the other goods, since then we would have an ex-
c
hange relationshi
p
. –Prof. Dr.
A
rta Mandro, Roman Law, Tiranë 2006, f
q
366.
4
Dr.
E
nkelejda
O
lldashi “Roman Law, "Media
p
rint, First
E
dition,
p
g 187
.

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