ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the assumption that a good consumer policy should pay sufficient attention to the needs of the vulnerable and less privileged consumer groups. From a welfarist point of view the idea of the law focusing in particular on the needs of the vulnerable feels sympathetic. A consumer law geared towards information may attempt to avoid such consequences by employing active methods of informing less privileged consumer groups. With regard to most consumers the idea of a consumer policy based on the notion of 'empowered and informed' consumers may at least occasionally produce unjust results. The chapter looks at the recently adopted Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. It focuses on the legal possibilities of a national decision-making of the kind that are inherent in the Directive. The 'average consumer' benchmark in the Directive obviously makes it possible to divert from the formula of the 'observant and circumspect' consumer.
