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No Need to Read: ‘Self-Enforcing’ Pre-Contractual Consumer Information in European and German Law

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Consumer Law and Economics

Part of the book series: Economic Analysis of Law in European Legal Scholarship ((EALELS,volume 9))

Abstract

The focus of this paper will be (in part) an apology of pre-contractual information in European and German consumer contract law against the critique by Ben-Shahar, Schneider, Bar-Gill et al. However, the paper will not try to fight the central assumptions and behavioural insights pointed out by the above mentioned and others. Rather, it looks at statutory examples that turn the debate partly from the top to the bottom by shifting the protective dimension being analysed. Further, based upon those statutory examples it aims to develop a more general concept of an ex post consumer protection through ex ante information.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Ben-Shahar and Schneider (2011), pp. 649, 730; see also i.a. Helleringer and Sibony (2017), p. 627 seq.; Gillis (2015), p. 46 seq.

  2. 2.

    In German: Bundesgerichtshof or just BGH.

  3. 3.

    FCJ, GRUR 1956, 187 (English-Lavender); GRUR 1970, 425 (Melitta-Kaffee); GRUR 1982, 564 (Elsässer Nudeln). For secondary sources see inter alia: Tamm (2011), p. 152; Weber (2019), p. 33 seq.

  4. 4.

    Leible (1994), p. 178; Heiderhoff (2004), pp. 259 seqq.

  5. 5.

    Dauner-Lieb (1983), pp. 62 seqq.; Howells and Wilhelmsson (2003), pp. 380 seqq.; Fleischer (2000), p. 780 seq.; Martinek (2000), pp. 518 seqq.; Heiderhoff (2004), pp. 266 seqq.

  6. 6.

    See already above at fn. 1; see further Dauner-Lieb (1983), p. 63; Whitford (1973), pp. 403 seqq., however, Whitford also shortly mentions the ex post dimension of pre-contractual disclosure at pp. 463 seqq.; his ideas share some of the policy intentions further elaborated infra at section 4.

  7. 7.

    Hereafter CJEU.

  8. 8.

    But see also towards a more social model i.a. Brownsword et al. (1994) and Lurger (1998).

  9. 9.

    See Wilhelmsson (1996), p. 55 seq.; Busch (2016), pp. 222 seqq.; Tamm (2011), pp. 152 seqq.; and supra n. 5.

  10. 10.

    CJEU, 16.07.1998, C-210/96 (Gut Springenheide), recital 31.

  11. 11.

    See CJEU, 06.07.1995, C-470/93 (Mars), no. 24; CJEU, 13.01.2000, C-220/98 (Estée Lauder); see also supra n. 10.

  12. 12.

    See i.a. Tamm, pp. 153 seqq.; Heiderhoff (2004), pp. 266 seqq.; Cartwright (2016), pp. 199 seqq.

  13. 13.

    FCJ GRUR 2000, 619, 621 (Orient-Teppichmuster); for secondary sources see i.a.; Tamm (2011), p. 152.

  14. 14.

    See i.a. Cartwright (2016), pp. 202 seqq.; Hacker (2016), Dauner-Lieb (2007), pp. 111 seqq.

  15. 15.

    See further infra under 2.2.

  16. 16.

    See for a comparison between the EU and the U.S. consumer legislation before this background Hacker (2016). See further for the shift in the U.S. legislation below at 2.2.

  17. 17.

    European Commission (2017).

  18. 18.

    See on this and subsequent European Commission (2017), pp. 291 seqq.

  19. 19.

    See Com 2018(183), 11.04.2018.

  20. 20.

    Simon (1955) and Simon (1972), p. 170.

  21. 21.

    See i.a. Mathis and Steffen (2015), p. 36.

  22. 22.

    Kahneman and Tversky (1979); for a reception see i.a. Jolls et al. (1998), p. 1476; Camerer et al. (2004); for a German introduction see i.a. Englerth and Towfigh (2017), pp. 237 seqq.; Hacker (2017), pp. 63 seqq., 96 seqq.

  23. 23.

    Jolls et al. (1998).

  24. 24.

    Ramsay (2012), pp. 56 seqq.; Cartwright (2016), pp. 202 seqq.; Ulen (2001), pp. 105 seqq.; Sibony (2015), pp. 71 seqq.; see further, infra n. 27, 39.

  25. 25.

    See Whitford (1973); see also Howells and Wilhelmsson (2003), p. 380; Ramsay (2005), pp. 48 seqq.

  26. 26.

    Ben-Shahar and Schneider (2011).

  27. 27.

    Fleischer (2000), p. 788; Martinek (2000), pp. 518 seqq. Ben-Shahar and Schneider (2011), pp. 686 seqq.; Busch (2016), pp. 224 seqq.; Schürnbrand and Janal (2018), p. 7

  28. 28.

    Ben-Shahar and Schneider (2011), pp. 711 seqq. with further references.

  29. 29.

    For an (incomplete) list of documented cognitive errors see i.a Stark and Choplin (2010), pp. 89 seqq.

  30. 30.

    Stark and Choplin (2010), p. 97 seq.

  31. 31.

    See further infra under 4.3.

  32. 32.

    A prime example is the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team established by President Obama, which was meant to design laws according to behavioural insights, see for the last report: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/images/2016%20Social%20and%20Behavioral%20Sciences%20Team%20Annual%20Report.pdf (visited on 18.06.2020).

  33. 33.

    See i.a. Kahnemann and Tversky (1984); for a reception see i.a. Sunstein and Thaler (2003), Hacker (2017), pp. 445 seqq.

  34. 34.

    See with further references also for the following Stark and Choplin (2010), p. 99 seq.

  35. 35.

    Stark and Choplin (2010), p. 99 seq.

  36. 36.

    The term “product” is used here in a very broad sense. Included are also services or contracts for work; for a similar approach see Willis (2015), p. 1309, n. 1.

  37. 37.

    Englerth (2007), pp. 95 seqq.; Hacker (2017), pp. 87 seqq.

  38. 38.

    Bar-Gill and Ben-Shahar (2013), p. 116 seq.

  39. 39.

    See supra and Fleischer (2000), p. 788; Eidenmüller (2005), p. 221; Busch (2016), pp. 224 seqq.

  40. 40.

    See i.a. Helleringer and Sibony (2017), pp. 621 seqq.

  41. 41.

    Directive 2011/83/EU of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, hereafter DCR; this directive and all other directives mentioned hereafter can easily be found at https://eur-lex.europa.eu.

  42. 42.

    For a (working) definition see infra 4.1.

  43. 43.

    For an overview in matters of the pre-contractual information see 4.1.

  44. 44.

    See for an analysis of this exemption infra 5.1, comparative analysis.

  45. 45.

    In more detail infra 5.2.

  46. 46.

    See Bar-Gill and Ben-Shahar (2013), p. 116 seq.

  47. 47.

    U.C.C. § 2-313, Official Comment 3.

  48. 48.

    See i.a. Murray (1982) and Holdych and Mann (1996).

  49. 49.

    See infra 5.2.

  50. 50.

    See further infra 4.

  51. 51.

    But see Weber (2019), pp. 135 seqq.; and art. II.-3:109 DCFR.

  52. 52.

    Comp. also Helleringer and Sibony (2017), p. 624; Whitford (1973), p. 466 seq.

  53. 53.

    See further infra 5.2 for the effects.

  54. 54.

    See more closely i.a. Weatherill (2013), p. 133.

  55. 55.

    See already supra at 2.2 note 36.

  56. 56.

    See further infra 5.1.

  57. 57.

    See further hereafter.

  58. 58.

    See generally Hall et al. (2012), pp. 146–148; Grundmann (2013), pp. 110–112.

  59. 59.

    The EGBGB serves as introductory law to the German Civil Code (BGB).

  60. 60.

    See explicitly Staudinger/Thüsing, § 312a BGB no. 29.

  61. 61.

    Palandt/Grüneberg, art. 246 EGBGB no. 9; jurisPK/Junker, § 312d BGB no. 40; BeckOGK/Busch, art. 246 EGBGB no. 34; BeckOK/Martens, art. 246 EGBGB no. 20; Ehmann and Forster (2014), p. 166.

  62. 62.

    Erman/Koch, § 312a BGB no. 14.

  63. 63.

    See also MüKo/Wendehorst, § 312a no. 28.

  64. 64.

    Directive 1999/44/EC on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees. The same holds true for the period of liability, see for the differentiation CJEU, 13.07.2017,C-133/16 (Ferenschild).

  65. 65.

    DG Justice Guidance Document (June 2014), p. 27 seq.

  66. 66.

    Palandt/Grüneberg, art. 246 EGBGB no. 9; Ehmann and Forster (2014), p. 166; Erman/Koch, § 312a BGB no. 14; jurisPK/Junker, § 312d BGB no. 41.

  67. 67.

    DG Justice Guidance Document (June 2014), p. 28.

  68. 68.

    Palandt/Grüneberg, art. 246 EGBGB no. 9; Ehmann and Forster (2014), p. 166; BeckOK/Martens, art. 246 EGBGB no. 21; MüKo/Wendehorst, § 312a no. 29; Erman/Koch, § 312a BGB no. 14.

  69. 69.

    OLG Hamm, GRUR-RS 2016, 18361.

  70. 70.

    See for the European level Hall et al. (2012), pp. 149–151; Grundmann (2013), pp. 111–112.

  71. 71.

    MüKo/Wendehorst, § 312d no. 70; Staudinger/Thüsing, § 312d no. 77; BeckOGK/Busch, art. 246a § 4 EGBGB no. 7; BGH NJW 1988, 558; NJW 1989, 222; NJW 1999, 2279 (2280).

  72. 72.

    See supra at 2.2 and further i.a.: Loewenstein et al. (2014), Ayres and Schwartz (2014), Schmolke (2014), pp. 840 seqq.; Hacker (2017), pp. 444 seqq., 875 seqq.; see also infra.

  73. 73.

    See Staudinger/Wendland, § 307 no. 187 seqq.; BGH NJW-RR 2011, 1144; BAG (German Federal Labour Court) NJW 2008, 680.

  74. 74.

    See generally MüKo/Wendehorst, § 312d no. 70; Hacker (2017), pp. 461 seqq.

  75. 75.

    Charrow and Charrow (1979), p. 1336; Schendra (2004), p. 356; Hacker (2017), p. 462.

  76. 76.

    See supra 4.2.

  77. 77.

    Schendra (2004), p. 356; Hacker (2017), p. 462.

  78. 78.

    Charrow and Charrow (1979), p. 1321.

  79. 79.

    Charrow and Charrow (1979), p. 1321; Hacker (2017), p. 463.

  80. 80.

    See i.a. Bettman et al. (1986), p. 15; Hacker (2017), p. 464.

  81. 81.

    Emphasized by Ehmann and Forster (2014), p. 166.

  82. 82.

    See further CJEU, 13.07.2017,C-133/16 (Ferenschild).

  83. 83.

    Directive on package travel, package holidays and package tours, 90/314/EEC.

  84. 84.

    See Serrat (2016), p. 361; Grundmann (1999), pp. 603 seqq.

  85. 85.

    Pointed out inter alia by Führich (2016), p. 1205; but see art. 2 para. 2 lit. c) DPT-2015 for an exemption.

  86. 86.

    Serrat (2016), p. 362.

  87. 87.

    Traders that combine packages pursuant to art. 3 no. 8 DPT-2015.

  88. 88.

    See art. 5 para. 1 DPT-2015; see also Bergmann (2018), p. 23.

  89. 89.

    See art. 3 no. 2 DPT-2015 in detail.

  90. 90.

    See recital 2 of DPT-2015.

  91. 91.

    For an interpretation of the exemption (“unless the contracting parties expressly agree otherwise”) see infra 5.1.5.

  92. 92.

    See Weatherill (2013), p. 119.

  93. 93.

    See OJ/C1989/69/97; Grundmann (1999), p. 605.

  94. 94.

    See Weatherill (2013), pp. 122 seqq.

  95. 95.

    Recital 3 of the DTS is very clear in that sense and states i.a.: “Member States should not be allowed to maintain or introduce in their national legislation provisions diverging from those laid down in this Directive.”

  96. 96.

    The necessary pre-contractual information duties are set out in art. 242 EGBGB.

  97. 97.

    This used to be three years, see further Weatherill (2013), pp. 122 seqq.

  98. 98.

    Comp. Downes (2008), p. 609; for a closer discussion of different legal designs see i.a. Mäsch (1997), pp. 182 seqq.

  99. 99.

    Staudinger/Martinek, supp. to § 482 no. 6; MüKo/Frentzen, § 482 no. 27.

  100. 100.

    For possible exemptions see the text of the norm and infra 5.1.5.

  101. 101.

    See art. 3 no. 2 directive 94/47/EC.

  102. 102.

    For the legislative background see i.a. jurisPK/Segger, § 650i no. 5 seqq.

  103. 103.

    See further, jurisPK/Segger, § 650i no. 15 seqq.

  104. 104.

    For the following see more closely i.a. jurisPK/Segger, § 650j no. 15 seqq., 28 seqq.

  105. 105.

    For a working translation see infra at the end of the contribution.

  106. 106.

    For possible exemptions see the text of the norm and infra 5.1.5.

  107. 107.

    For the effect see infra 5.2.

  108. 108.

    See infra 5.2 for an analysis of this rule also in comparison to inclusion rules of the other consumer contracts discussed supra and infra.

  109. 109.

    Baird (2013), pp. 297 seqq.

  110. 110.

    BeckOK/Martens, art. 246 EGBGB no. 11; MüKo/Wendehorst, § 312a no. 18.

  111. 111.

    See also Nordhausen Scholes (2009), p. 223; but compare Spindler/Schuster/Schirmbacher, § 312d no. 24 for a critical assessment.

  112. 112.

    See infra 5.2.

  113. 113.

    Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts.

  114. 114.

    See i.a. Kramme (2015), p. 280 seq.; jurisPK/Segger, § 650k no. 17 seq.

  115. 115.

    MüKo/Wendehorst, § 312d no. 9; Stretz (2017), § 5 no. 105.

  116. 116.

    For package travel see art. 5 para. 3 DPT-2015; for timeshare contracts see art. 4 para. 1 DTS; for distance and off-premises contracts see supra 4.3.

  117. 117.

    BT-Drs. 18/8486, p. 74; see also jurisPK/Segger, § 650j no. 26 seq.

  118. 118.

    BT-Drs. 18/8486, p. 62; see also jurisPK/Segger, § 650j no. 5.

  119. 119.

    For distance and off-premises contracts see: Grundmann (2013), p. 110 seq.; Kramme (2015), pp. 279 seqq.; BT-Drs. 17/12637, p. 54. For package travel contracts see: recital 26; see further BeckOGK/Alexander, § 651d no. 33; Staudinger/Staudinger, § 4 BGB-InfoV, no. 15. For timeshare contracts see: Downes (2008), p. 614; MüKo/Franzen, § 484 no. 10. For consumer construction contracts see: BT-Drs. 18/8486, p. 62; jurisPK/Segger, § 650j no. 5.

  120. 120.

    Staudinger/Schwerdtner, 1991, § 651a no. 40 seq.; see also Grundmann (1999), p. 611.

  121. 121.

    See supra 5.1; comparative analysis.

  122. 122.

    See i.a. Bickert (2014), pp. 199 seqq.

  123. 123.

    See i.a. Jenkins (2014), pp. 29 seqq.; Eschenbruch (2015), p. 223.

  124. 124.

    See i.a. Jenkins (2014), pp. 31 seqq.; jurisPK/Segger, § 650j no. 4 n. 11, with already six examples taken from decisions of the German Federal Court of Justice.

  125. 125.

    See i.a. BeckOGK/Alexander, § 651d no. 40; Stretz (2017), § 5 no. 101 seq.

  126. 126.

    Kramme (2015), pp. 280 seqq.; see also MüKo/Wendehorst, § 312d no. 11.

  127. 127.

    MüKo/Franzen, § 484 no. 13.

  128. 128.

    Mäsch (1997), p. 196; BeckOGK/Meier, 484 no. 16.

  129. 129.

    See infra 5.2.4.

  130. 130.

    For a contextual anaylsis to the alternative regime of caveat emptor see Baird (2013), pp. 299 seqq.

  131. 131.

    Baird (2013), p. 309 seq.

  132. 132.

    Nordhausen Scholes (2009), p. 232; Weber (2019), p. 280 seq.

  133. 133.

    Spindler/Schuster/Schirmbacher, § 312d no. 25; see also Grundmann (2013), p. 110 seq.

  134. 134.

    BeckOK/Eckert, § 484 no. 8; BeckOGK/Meier, § 482 no. 15.

  135. 135.

    BeckOK/Baumgärtner, § 651d no. 39; Bergmann (2018), p. 24; Staudinger/Staudinger, § 4 BGB-InfoV, no. 15.

  136. 136.

    jurisPK/Segger, § 650j no. 5; Leinemann/Kues/Abu Saris, § 650k no. 4.

  137. 137.

    Baird (2013), p. 309 seq.

  138. 138.

    Kramme (2015), p. 297; Spindler/Schuster/Schirmbacher, § 312d no. 20; compare also BT-Drs. 17/12637, p. 97.

  139. 139.

    Staudinger/Schwerdtner, 1991, § 651c no. 23 seq.; see also Grundmann (1999), p. 610 seq. with further references.

  140. 140.

    Compare supra n. 129–132.

  141. 141.

    Grundmann (2013), p. 110 seq.; see also Nordhausen Scholes (2009), p. 232.

  142. 142.

    Negated by law academics, see i.a. Lüttringhaus (2018), p. 1030; Gräf (2017), pp. 300 seqq. Affirmed by the case law, see BGH NJW 2018, 1954, no. 21; BGH NJW-RR 2018, 752, no. 10.

  143. 143.

    For this aspects see the sources supra at n. 142 as well.

  144. 144.

    Directive 2010/31/EU on the energy performance of buildings and Directive 2012/27/EU of on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC.

  145. 145.

    Higher Regional Court Schleswig, NJW 2015, 2668; Cziupka and Hübner (2016), p. 335.

  146. 146.

    See i.a BeckOGK/Meier, § 484 no. 16.1.

  147. 147.

    Comp. MüKo/Busche, § 650u no. 7.

  148. 148.

    Compare also Ramsay (2012), p. 102 seq.

  149. 149.

    For the legislative background see Directive 2014/95/EU amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups and further Segger (2018); compare also Lüttringhaus (2019).

  150. 150.

    Since the Consumer Sales Directive does not apply to immovable property, this could only hold true for information in a corporate social Responsibility-report; see further Lüttringhaus (2019).

  151. 151.

    See i.a. Götting/Hetman, in Fezer/Büscher/Obergfell, UWG, § 3a no. 158.

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Acknowledgements

For helpful comments I would like to thank Professor Oliver Remien, Professor Omri Ben-Shahar, Selina Schätzlein, Hannah Piening and Lynn Gummow.

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  1. Faculty of Law, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Sören Segger-Piening

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  1. Sören Segger-Piening
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  1. Faculty of Law, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland

    Klaus Mathis

  2. The School of Law, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

    Avishalom Tor

Annex: Working Translation of § 650k BGB

Annex: Working Translation of § 650k BGB

§ 650k BGB—Content of the contract [Working translation by author]

Para. 1

The information enclosed in the pre-contractually provided specifications for construction becomes part of the contract, unless the contracting parties expressly agree otherwise.

Para. 2

In case those specifications are incomplete or unclear, the contract shall be interpreted before the background of all accompanying circumstances of the contract, especially the further comfort and quality standards pursuant to the specifications. A case of doubt [ambiguity] when interpreting the obligations of the contractor is at his expense.

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Segger-Piening, S. (2021). No Need to Read: ‘Self-Enforcing’ Pre-Contractual Consumer Information in European and German Law. In: Mathis, K., Tor, A. (eds) Consumer Law and Economics. Economic Analysis of Law in European Legal Scholarship, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49028-7_5

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