Scientific Coordination: Amandine Garde, Marine Friant-Perrot, Anne-Lise Sibony

Directive 2005/29 on business-to-consumer unfair commercial practices (also known as the UCPD) was adopted in May 2005. It harmonises the laws of the Member States on business-to-consumer unfair commercial practices which harm consumers’ economic interests. Twenty years after its adoption, it is time to take stock of what has been accomplished and discuss the challenges ahead. This conference proposes to reflect on the extent to which the UCPD has fulfilled its dual purpose of contributing to the proper functioning of the internal market and achieving a high level of consumer protection.

Programme

Thursday, October 23

 9:45 Welcome coffee

10:10 Kick-off

10:20 Keynote 

Chair: Amandine Garde (University of Liverpool)

• Geraint Howells (University of Galway), Can the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive Meet the Challenges of Digitalisation and Sustainability Without Major Reform?

11:15 Fundamental Issues (1): Key Concepts

Chair: Alberto De Franceschi (University of Ferrara)

• Willem van Boom (Radboud Universiteit), Foundational Concepts of the UCPD: Autonomy and Influence
• Fabrizio Esposito (NOVA School of Law), The ‘Likely Material Distortion Test’ and Its Specifications
• Discussion

12:15 Lunch

13:00 Fundamental Issues (2): Law, Facts and Behavioural Insights

Chair: Joasia Luzak (University of Exeter)

• Hans Schulte-Nölke (Universität Osnabrück), The Search for the Right Consumer Model: Between Normativity and Empirics 
• Anne-Lise Sibony (UCLouvain), The Proper Place of Behavioural Insights in UCPD Enforcement and Reform 
• Discussion

14:00 Fundamental Issues (3): Links With Other Legal Norms

Chair: Hervé Jacquemin (Université de Namur)

• Jan Trzaskowski (Aalborg Universiteit), UCPD and Fundamental Rights 
• Ruben Verdoodt (KU Leuven), Consumer Standards in EU Consumer Law and EU Competition Law: Addressing the Gap
• Discussion

15:00 Coffee break

15:20 Digitalisation and AI (1)

Chair: Alain Strowel (UCLouvain)

• Joasia Luzak (University of Exeter), Applicability to the Provision of Digital Services
• Cecilia Isola (University of Genoa), Did the EU Shine a Light on Dark Patterns? The (Obscure) Interplay Between the UCPD and the Digital Services Act
• Discussion

16:20 Mini break

16:30 Digitalisation and AI (2)

Chair: Jan Trzaskowski (Aalborg Universiteit)

• Thitinan Ngamsanguan (University of Exeter), Algorithmic Manipulation and Structural Vulnerability: Rethinking the UCPD in the Digital Economy
• Shuo Wang (University of Exeter), Consumer Protection in the Metaverse: A Comparative Analysis of Pay-to-Win and Play-to-Earn Models
• Jaydon Souter (University of Liverpool), The Regulation of Influencers and Brand Marketing Under the UCPD
• Discussion

Friday, October 24

 9:00 Sustainability (1)

 Chair: Anne-Christine Fornage (Université de Lausanne)

• Evelyne Terryn (KULeuven), The use of the UCPD open norms to tackle unsustainable practices: a tool with(out) limitations?
• Annelies De Grave (KU Leuven), Regulating Social Sustainability Claims and Labels in the EU: The Impact of the UCPD

10:15 Mini break 

10:30 Sustainability (2)

Chair: Evelyne Terryn (KULeuven)

• Marine Friant (Nantes Université) and Amandine Garde (University of Liverpool), The Fragmented Application of a Maximum Harmonisation Directive
• Marianne Hundahl (Aalborg Universitet), In Green We Trust? Legal Certainty and the Future of Environmental Claims under the UCPD

11:15 Mini break

11:30 Links With National Law and Enforcement 

Chair: Fabrizio Esposito

• Bert Keirsbilck (KULeuven), The Deregulatory Impact of the UCPD: Past and Future
• Jennifer Bouffard (Université Bretagne Sud), Maximum Harmonisation and Its Partial Reception in French Law

12:45 Lunch

Locations