MacCulloch, Angus --- "The Consumer and Competition Law" [2010] ELECD 169; in Howells, Geraint; Ramsay, Iain; Wihelmsson, Thomas; Kraft, David (eds), "Handbook of Research on International Consumer Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Handbook of Research on International Consumer Law

Editor(s): Howells, Geraint; Ramsay, Iain; Wihelmsson, Thomas; Kraft, David

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847201287

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: The Consumer and Competition Law

Author(s): MacCulloch, Angus

Number of pages: 30

Extract:

4. The consumer and competition law
Angus MacCulloch*



1. Introduction
The role of the consumer in competition law is a topic of considerable interest
at the beginning of the 21st century. The rhetoric of many public authorities
involved in enforcing the various competition rules, particularly those in
Europe, is quick to invoke the interests of consumers as a guiding principle.1
The interest of the consumer is also being increasingly recognised within those
organisations; DG Competition, for instance, in 2003 appointed a Consumer
Liaison Officer to ensure a permanent dialogue between DG Competition and
European consumers and ensure their voice is heard when DG Competition is
handling individual cases or discussing policy issues.2 This chapter attempts
to examine the various roles the consumer plays within contemporary compe-
tition law. This should go some way to explain whether the current focus on
the consumer is simply a rhetorical device, or if it truly reflects a shift in the
way that competition policy is developing.

2. Who is the `consumer'?
It is trite to state that the consumer is the central focus of both competition law
and consumer law. But such a statement does not present a particularly
enlightening picture. As with many fields of legal scholarship, where two
`families' of lawyers use the same terminology, they often do so, often
unknowingly, in completely different ways. Competition law and consumer
law are no different; their shared concern for the consumer belies the diver-
gence of their understanding of who the `consumer' ...