The fathers and mothers of consumer law and policy in Europe : the foundational years 1950-1980

Abstract

The book owes its origin to the sudden passing away of my mentor and friend Norbert Reich in 2015, the father of the consumer law in Germany. My Dutch colleagues and friends, Ewoud Hondius and Thom van Mierlo pushed me into action. Thanks of the ERC funds I was able to sponsor a conference held in June 2017 on the father and mothers of consumer law in Europe. The idea was to bring together all those who significantly contributed to the development of consumer law in their home countries and in the EU. Nearly everybody we invited made it to our getting together. A round table of observers concluded the conference. The papers and documents should be made available to the public at large. That is why we have opted for an e-book version. The invitees were given rather loose instructions in the form of four open worded questions (see III. Letter of Invitation), the emphasis was laid on free speech, memories and crucial events. In order to keep the particular style of the conference in place, we decided to record the speeches and to transcribe them together with the discussions.