Standards of competition law
in Member States of the European Union.
The conceptual definition of a consumer
- The consequence of understanding the terminology in EU law - defining key concepts in the work of academics, graduate theses,
-basic definitions in any legal system, regardless of whether in European Union or EFTA:
Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland,
determine the level of protection regulated normative act, such as conceptual definition of a consumer.
-The principle of the market economy is
the freedom conclusion and implementation
of contracts. How it is understood?
Some considerations in the light of the judgment dated September 2015
Unfair terms used in a contract concluded with a consumer by a seller or supplier shall, as provided for under their national law, not be binding on the consumer and that the contract shall continue to bind the parties upon those terms if it is capable of continuing in existence without the unfair terms.
Who is protected mentioned regulation?
The definition of consumer
“Consumer” means any natural person
(or group of natural persons forming an association) who, on the basis of a contract covered by this law, is acting for purposes that are outside his trade, business, industry or profession.
The concept of ‘consumer’, is objective in nature and is distinct from the concrete knowledge the person in question may have, or from the information that person actually has.
Why this person is a weaker partner?
What does businessman like “trader” mean?
The argument of the court
the consumer is in a weaker position vis-à-vis the seller or supplier, as regards both his the economic strength (experience - bargaining power) and his level of knowledge (information asymmetry),
in consequence of this the consumer agreeing to terms drawn up in advance by the seller or supplier without being able to influence the content of those terms.
The problem of the formal and effective balance?
The doubts of national judiciary
The referring court is essentially asking whether a natural person who practises as a lawyer and concludes a credit agreement with a bank may be regarded as a ‘consumer’,
it should be noted that one and the same person can act as a consumer in certain transactions and as a seller or supplier in others.
Does a lawyer and, as such, primarily handles
cases in the field of commercial law in his office,
may be included in the category of consumers?
Is the lawyer could be an entrepreneur? Lawyers display a high level of technical knowledge which consumers may not have and the latter therefore may find it difficult to judge the quality of the services provided to them?
In the light of the same act on unfair terms in consumer contracts in another case, the Court defined the concept of
the entrepreneur must be interpreted as
applying to standard form contracts for legal
services, such as those at issue in the main
proceedings, concluded by a lawyer with
a natural person acting for purposes which
are outside his trade, business or profession.
A preliminary ruling
A natural person who practises as
a lawyer and concludes a credit
agreement with a bank, in which the
purpose of the credit is not specified,
may be regarded as a ‘consumer’ within
the meaning of that provision, where
that agreement is not linked to that
lawyer’s profession (…)
The importance of understanding the terminology in EU law (videreføring). An economic unit definition.
What does this mean for the joint and several liability of a parent company and a subsidiary?
two companies together act as principals of a single undertaking within the meaning of competition law if the subsidiary does not enjoy sufficient autonomy from the parent company,
in their internal relationship with one another,
can take advantage of the ‘group privilege’,
which means that the prohibition of cartels
does not apply to agreements between
them.
The settled case-law
the conduct of a subsidiary may be imputed
to the parent company in particular where,
although having a separate legal personality,
that subsidiary does not decide independently
upon its own conduct on the market, but
carries out, in all material respects, the
instructions given to it by the parent
company, having regard in particular to the
economic, organisational and legal links
between those two legal entities
The pressure of the parent company to subsidiaries
EU corporate tax legislation
by establishing that parent company had obtained, at its request and over and above what it was entitled to, up-to-date information on the state of the banana market concerned, that it gave subsidiary precise instructions on the conduct to be adopted by it on that market, that those instructions were accompanied by threats which parent company could make because it enjoyed a powerful means of putting pressure on subsidiary and that subsidiary, fearing that it would be put out of business, endeavoured to meet parent company’s expectations, the Court had a body of evidence which enabled it to conclude that parent company, in conjunction with the subsidiary’s general partners, exerted a decisive influence over subsidiary.
Have some companies by Parent Subsidiary Directive been using to escape taxation?
