ABSTRACT
Directive 2005/29/European Community on Unfair Commercial Practices was signed by the European Parliament and the Council on 11 May 2005. At the heart of the Directive lies the ambition to tackle barriers to cross-border provision of goods and services to consumers. Consequently, the Green Paper identifies a framework containing a general duty in relation to unfair commercial practices, which can act as a possible basis for reform. The Green Paper's survey of consumer protection regulations at national and European Union (EU)-level is of great use in order to understand the importance of the proposal for an unfair commercial practices directive. Regulation impedes a fully functioning consumer market, which would make a substantial contribution to meeting the EU's goals. Unfair commercial practices can generally be regarded as practices which are contrary to the requirements of professional diligence or which will materially distort the economic behaviour with regard to the product of the average consumer.
