The steady creep of an average consumer as a reference consumer in the assessment of the transparent provision of mandatory information

Abstract

This article documents the steady creep of the average consumer benchmark across various areas of European consumer law related to the transparent provision of consumer information. It critically examines and rejects current justifications provided by the Court of Justice of the EU and its Advocates General for this evolution under the provisions of the Unfair Contract Terms Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive. Whilst the use of an objective benchmark is advisable, these directives currently do not prescribe the benchmark to be set at the high level of an average consumer, as applied under the provisions of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.