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In this Article, we identify whether and how European Union consumer protection rules could incorporate more behavioral wisdom. The relevance of behavioral insights to consumer rights is obvious, as consumer protection rules tend to ignore how boundedly rational consumers can be when they make their decisions. The rules are all too often written with a fictional consumer in mind: one who reads labels and checks the terms and conditions. Though the relevance of behavioral insights to consumer protection is universal, the European context exhibits specific features. In Europe, paternalism is rarely seen as a matter of principle. The debate is therefore not whether a behavioral approach can offer minimalist regulatory approaches preserving freedom of choice, or whether it provides evidence that is robust and general enough to justify paternalistic interventions; rather, it is whether and how a more behavioral approach can make EU law more effective and European consumers better off. The focus in this Article is precisely on how behavioral insights are being incorporated and could be incorporated. The question is important since EU consumer law has evolved into an apparent anti-model of behavioral regulation, featuring a muchcriticized load of mandatory information requirements. The internal market constraints that still exist should not, however, be analyzed as preventing a behavioral turn. The question is also timely, since new rules are in preparation at the EU level in the field of consumer protection. Can the EU legislature take useful inspiration from the insights developed in behavioral sciences? Various dimensions are studied. First, disclosure mandates are a central feature of EU consumer law that has been severely criticized in light of behavioral findings. Though disclosure mandates are over-used, they can still serve a useful purpose, provided their use is adequately streamlined and enhanced

In this Article, we identify whether and how European Union consumer protection rules could incorporate more behavioral wisdom. The relevance of behavioral insights to consumer rights is obvious, as consumer protection rules tend to ignore how boundedly rational consumers can be when they make their decisions. The rules are all too often written with a fictional consumer in mind: one who reads labels and checks the terms and conditions. Though the relevance of behavioral insights to consumer protection is universal, the European context exhibits specific features. In Europe, paternalism is rarely seen as a matter of principle. The debate is therefore not whether a behavioral approach can offer minimalist regulatory approaches preserving freedom of choice, or whether it provides evidence that is robust and general enough to justify paternalistic interventions; rather, it is whether and how a more behavioral approach can make EU law more effective and European consumers better off. The focus in this Article is precisely on how behavioral insights are being incorporated and could be incorporated. The question is important since EU consumer law has evolved into an apparent anti-model of behavioral regulation, featuring a muchcriticized load of mandatory information requirements. The internal market constraints that still exist should not, however, be analyzed as preventing a behavioral turn. The question is also timely, since new rules are in preparation at the EU level in the field of consumer protection. Can the EU legislature take useful inspiration from the insights developed in behavioral sciences? Various dimensions are studied. First, disclosure mandates are a central feature of EU consumer law that has been severely criticized in light of behavioral findings. Though disclosure mandates are over-used, they can still serve a useful purpose, provided their use is adequately streamlined and enhanced

In this chapter, we review the behavioural critique of EU consumer legislation and focus is on how behavioural insights are being incorporated or could realistically be incorporated in existing or new rules. Behavioural scholars sometimes present EU consumer law as archaic and counter-productive and this creates a diffuse view that a behavioural turn would constitute a revolution for EU consumer law. We do not subscribe to this view. We begin by putting the current legitimacy crisis of EU consumer law in perspective. Specifically, we explain why EU law evolved to be an apparent anti-model of behavioural regulation and discuss whether the internal market constraints that still exist prevent a behavioural turn. We conclude that they do not. We illustrate this claim in relation to disclosure mandates. The central feature of disclosure mandates in EU consumer law has been severely criticised in the light of behavioural findings. We agree that they are over-used but find that disclosure mandates, as a technique, can still serve a useful purpose and suggest how their use can be streamlined. We also point out that recent developments tend to make disclosures smarter and point to directions to pursue this evolution. Finally, we turn to the core message of behavioural insights to policy makers: 'make it simple' and analyse how it has been received in EU consumer law beyond the specific issue of disclosure. We find evidence of an intention to simplify which predates the current commitment of the Commission to make simplification a priority, but highlight that efforts to simplify have led to half-baked solutions that are not simple enough. We conclude that EU consumer law does not need a revolution but a continued reform and that it contains the seeds of a more behavioural approach. ; Peer reviewed

Pour être efficace, le droit a besoin d'une représentation aussi exacte que possible des comportements humains. Les sciences cognitives et comportementales offrent à cet égard des enseignements précieux, dont le droit gagnerait à tenir davantage compte. Dans cet article, nous rendons compte d'un mouvement de recherche qui s'est développé depuis une vingtaine d'années et s'intéresse aux manières d'intégrer les apports des sciences comportementales à l'étude du droit et à l'élaboration des politiques publiques. Nous explicitons dans un premier temps les prémisses de ce champ d'études, avant de discuter l'appellation qui convient le mieux pour le nommer. Nous en dessinons ensuite les contours en décrivant ses objets et questions de recherche. Enfin nous évoquons ses méthodes. Par cette introduction à l'analyse comportementale du droit, nous adressons aux juristes une invitation à embrasser ce champ de recherches interdisciplinaires encore nouveau en Europe. ; To be effective, legal rules need to incorporate a representation of human behaviour that is as accurate as possible. In this regard, Behavioura 2 Sciences offer useful insights, which law can helpfully draw on. In this article, we present a scholarly movement which has developed over the past twenty years and provides ways to integrate behavioural insights in legal analysis and policy-making. We first make explicit the premises of behavioural legal analysis. We then discuss how the integrated study of law and behavioural sciences should be named (in French). Next, we define the scope of this interdisciplinary field of study by describing its objects and characteristic research questions. Finally, we give a brief overview of methodological issues. With this introduction to behavioural analysis of law, we hope to draw more European legal researchers into the field.

Pour être efficace, le droit a besoin d'une représentation aussi exacte que possible des comportements humains. Les sciences cognitives et comportementales offrent à cet égard des enseignements précieux, dont le droit gagnerait à tenir davantage compte. Dans cet article, nous rendons compte d'un mouvement de recherche qui s'est développé depuis une vingtaine d'années et s'intéresse aux manières d'intégrer les apports des sciences comportementales à l'étude du droit et à l'élaboration des politiques publiques. Nous explicitons dans un premier temps les prémisses de ce champ d'études, avant de discuter l'appellation qui convient le mieux pour le nommer. Nous en dessinons ensuite les contours en décrivant ses objets et questions de recherche. Enfin nous évoquons ses méthodes. Par cette introduction à l'analyse comportementale du droit, nous adressons aux juristes une invitation à embrasser ce champ de recherches interdisciplinaires encore nouveau en Europe. ; To be effective, legal rules need to incorporate a representation of human behaviour that is as accurate as possible. In this regard, Behavioura 2 Sciences offer useful insights, which law can helpfully draw on. In this article, we present a scholarly movement which has developed over the past twenty years and provides ways to integrate behavioural insights in legal analysis and policy-making. We first make explicit the premises of behavioural legal analysis. We then discuss how the integrated study of law and behavioural sciences should be named (in French). Next, we define the scope of this interdisciplinary field of study by describing its objects and characteristic research questions. Finally, we give a brief overview of methodological issues. With this introduction to behavioural analysis of law, we hope to draw more European legal researchers into the field.