ABSTRACT

This chapter tests the claims of the empowerment discourse and examines whether legal tools and strategies in the citizenship and consumer law field are likely to increase citizen and consumer empowerment. The Lisbon Strategy mainstreams empowerment of active citizens in EU consumer policy and, along the way; the citizen and the consumer are merged into the consumer-citizen model. The citizen's initiative provisions establish a direct link between citizens and the commission, whereas according to TEU, the European Parliament is composed of representatives of the Unions citizens. The re-orientation envisages a changed new role for consumers and citizens through their empowerment as active participants in designing and enforcing economic regulation. It uses an empowerment discourse that moves from the single social concept of citizenship and the economic concept of consumer to a compound concept of the consumer-citizen. The prioritization of public authorities cannot be reconciled with the commission's consumer empowerment strategies.