Together with a number of other fields of law, consumer law often appears to be a laboratory of private international law. Various policy interests, both at national (substantive) and international level, are at stake and have prompted a creative, policy-oriented approach from the conflicts legislator. A compromise has been sought between the protection of the consumer, substantive policy goal which is to be secured also in international transactions, and traditional conflicts values such as international harmony and legal certainty in cross-border relationships, which both are much easier realized with a neutral and abstract approach. Well-known achievements with regard to international consumer contracts are Article5 of the 1980 Rome Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations and the provisions in EC directives on consumer protection which shield the consumer from the application of restrictive third country law. Much has already been written on this topic. Still, the book of Stefan Klauer on European conflicts of law regarding consumer protection constitutes a very valuable contribution to the academic debate.
European Review of Private Law