Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Annual Policy Strategy for 2008

Recently, the Nigerian electric utility lost its public service character following its deregulation. The electricity sector deregulation was executed despite bad consumers‘ experience in the earlier deregulated sectors on service quality, complaints handling and others. Adopting a socio-legal research method, this thesis critically examines the legal and institutional frameworks for consumers‘ protection in the Nigerian deregulated electricity sector. The thesis was motivated by the state of the extant laws and the institutional arrangements for consumer protection; the lingering regulatory failure and rising consumer exploitations in the Nigerian electricity sector. The thesis‘s objectives are to examine the frameworks; the consumer redress mechanisms; and the challenges hindering electricity consumers‘ protection and redress in Nigeria. The data was collected through the library-based approach and twenty semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from consumer protection agencies such as the Consumer Protection Council, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria; lawyers in the academia; and the heads of consumer organisations. The thesis employed the interpretive doctrinal technique and the thematic analysis in analysing the legal materials and the interview data. The comparative analytical approach was also employed because comparison is useful in legal research. Guided by international standards and global best practices, the thesis found that the frameworks are deficient and limited in many aspects. It lacks provisions on consumer rights and remedies; its product-focused with less emphasis on services; and lacks competition law that are critical for consumer protection in deregulated environments. The thesis found that while regular courts are expensive and time consuming, the frameworks lack ideal institutional arrangements such as small claims court and consumer ombudsman. The thesis also found that consumer protection in Nigeria faces several challenges with lack of consumer awareness and underfunding of agencies being the prominent challenges. For the benefit of the consumers and industry, the thesis recommends comprehensive frameworks that integrate competition, consumer rights and remedies provisions. The thesis further recommends improvement to the legal aid scheme, the establishment of ideal consumer redress forums and efficient regulatory agencies for more effective consumer protection

An examination of the legal and institutional frameworks for consumer protection in Nigeria: A case study of the deregulated electricity sector

In European competition law, the term "modernization" has been a catchword and focus of attention since the late 1990s Usually, the reference is to "procedural" or "institutional" modernization The European Commission used the term "modernization" in referring to the important set of changes in the institutional structure and procedures of competition law that it introduced in 2004, and it has fundamentally changed important procedures for developing and applying competition law in Europe During the same period in which this form of modernization was proceeding, another form of "modernization" was also taking shape that represents a fundamental reorientation of much of the substantive law thinking in European competition law Curiously, little attention has been paid to the relationship between these two processes Yet they have taken place over roughly the same period; many of the same people have been involved in instigating the changes; and they have been driven by many of the same forces and pressures Understanding the relationship between these two processes promises not only to provide a better understanding of each, but also important insights into the current roles of competition law in the further integration of Europe Even more broadly, it helps to reveal the forces at work in this critical period of European legal and political development The Article makes two central claims One is that the two processes are related in important ways and that neither can be fully understood without understanding the other The other is that the relationships between the two reveal changes in the dynamics of European competition law that have so far been little noticed

Two Forms of Modernization in European Competition Law

Factors which enable or hinder the protection of human rights

The European legislator has adopted a Directive on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) which sets out minimum requirements for ADR entities throughout the European Union (EU). From a law and economics point of view, law enforcement is crucial to induce compliance. ADR can be viewed as a means of strengthening consumer law enforcement, leading to compliance at lower costs. Certain conditions, however, have to be fulfilled to exploit the benefits of an ADR mechanism successfully. The goal of this paper is to look into these conditions more specifically and critically assess the ADR Directive in light of these requirements. It is divided into a theoretical section and the analysis of the EU Directive. The main concern results to be the fact that ADR boards with very strong links to traders are allowed under the Directive. When looking at the composition of the bodies, a complicated compromise was enacted that is able to impede the working of such ADR bodies. Given that the Directive aims at minimum harmonization, Member States have the opportunity to provide for a better design in their respective countries responding to this main concern and other critical points identified in the paper.

Is ADR the Superior Mechanism for Consumer Contractual Disputes?—an Assessment of the Incentivizing Effects of the ADR Directive

While harmonization and convergence of national substantive laws are well advanced in the European Union, a similar convergence and harmonization of the procedural rules and institutional frameworks has not taken place. The implementation, supervision, and enforcement of EU law are left to the Member States in accordance with the so-called national procedural and institutional autonomy. This "procedural competence" of the Member States means that the Member States have to provide remedies and procedures governing actions intended to ensure the enforcement of rights derived from EU law. Harmonized substantive rules are implemented through diverging procedures and different kinds of enforcement bodies, but this decentralized enforcement challenges the coherent and uniform application of EU law. In an enforcement system where Member States apply divergent procedures, may impose a variety of sanctions and remedies administered by various actors the effectiveness of EU law, effective judicial protection and effective law administration may be at risk. This chapter analyzes the development of EU law concerning law enforcement and takes a critical look at the EU’s aim to harmonize the national procedural rules when EU law is enforced. It will examine the question of which legal basis can be used in order to harmonize procedural rules, whether harmonizing procedural rules would be more efficient than the existing legal diversity and the economics of harmonization will be applied to assess the top-down harmonization by the EU and comparative law, and economics is applied to evaluate the bottom-up voluntary harmonization of the Member States.

Katalin Cseres

Papers

Harmonization: Legal Enforcement