ABSTRACT
The article analyses the legal developments that can be observed in EU law on consumer contracts in an increasingly digitalised environment. It draws on the example of sale of goods, that is, a type of contract that existed and exists both before and after the flourishing digitalisation. Hereby, changes in paradigms can be seen most clearly. The main argument of the article will be that there is no formal separate set of law for cross-border online sales in the European context but rather that sales law in general is heavily influenced by a new paradigm of online sales. In this paradigm, the primary aim is no longer to protect individual autonomy and to level out parties’ interests (a party-centred perspective) but more and more to protect and facilitate markets (a market-centred perspective). The shift towards a market paradigm is not limited to contract law in a narrow sense but extends to regulatory techniques in private international law, law enforcement and developments in private contractual practice. Therefore, the article will trace the unfolding of an online paradigm and its leading role for consumer sales in general across different sub-areas.
