Abstract

This chapter exposes the tensions that afflict the shaping of European Union (EU) consumer law and policy and demonstrates that the relationship between EU and national consumer law is dynamic and not always coherent. A‐Punkt Schmuckhandels provides a good example of what it means to treat consumer protection as a shared competence. EU free movement law confines trade‐restrictive national measures to the area within which they can be justified, but it does not insist on their inevitable elimination. EU consumer policy in its legislative dimension is predominantly the product of Article 114 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which succinctly deals with harmonization. EU consumer law and the project of market integration are intimately connected. Indeed, market integration is intended to yield beneficial effects for the consumer by improving competition and widening choice.