CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Gvelesiani, Zurab |
|---|---|
| Title | The Necessity of Consumer Law for Effective Competition and a More Robust Enforcement of Competition Law A Comparative Analysis of the EU and Georgian Legal Systems |
| Summary | In 2012, in the midst of negotiations to sign the free trade agreement with the EU, the Georgian Parliament adopted a new competition law. The new statute was based on the EU competition law model, in accordance with the recommendations of the EU Commission. The law reform was rather unusual, not only because it reintroduced competition law seven years after abolishing the existing antimonopoly law and closing down the Antimonopoly Service, but also because it was immediately followed by the abolishment of the law on consumers rights protection, effectively eliminating consumer law and its enforcement system in Georgia. This dissertation uses the case of Georgia and conducts a comparative analysis of the EU and Georgian legal systems, to demonstrate the impossibility to foster market competition, maintain its high level and enforce competition law and antitrust policies fruitfully, in the absence of consumer law. According to a widely shared opinion, a high level of market competition is in the interests of consumers, as it delivers to them low prices, good quality and a wide selection of goods and services. Contrary to this belief, this work argues that while market competition has immense potential, the mere liberalisation of markets and introduction of competition do not guarantee any benefits for consumers, unless the process is accompanied by effective consumer protection policies. Consumers fail to take advantages of competitive market structure. Moreover, neither market competition can be successfully maintained, nor competition law enforced without actively engaging consumers. The latter hold a critical role in daily market operations and in competition law enforcement. However, consumers are not naturally prepared and equipped with suitable skills for this role. The average consumer is a weak, irrational thinker, can be easily manipulated, and lacks knowledge and confidence to protect her interests. It is the goal of consumer law to turn her into a market actor who can contribute to competition with their rational behaviour and actively participate in the law enforcement process as well. In order to verify this assumption, the research analyses substantive, procedural and institutional aspects of competition and consumer laws. It identifies consumer welfare as one of the primary objectives of competition law, and employs comparative-historic analysis to explore the rationale of consumer law, criticising the narrowness of the legal notion of consumers, for leaving all the non-human actors out of the regulations. The research relies on the finding of behavioural law and economics and challenges the mainstream consumer image for being unrealistic. It examines procedures through which consumers can participate and contribute to competition law enforcement process, and seeks to define the optimal institutional design for the enforcement authority in Georgia, after advocating for and predicting the inevitable reintroduction of consumer law. |
| Supervisor | Sganga Caterina; Nagy Csongor István |
| Department | Legal Studies PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/gvelesiani_zurab.pdf |
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