Consumer participation under Better Regulation Agenda: the case of Consumer Credit Directive

With the introduction of Article 11 TEU, the organization of broad consultations with the parties concerned acquired constitutional recognition in the European legal order. In the institutional reality, the participation of citizens in EU lawmaking is heavily based on the consultations held by the European Commission in the preparation stage of the legislation, in accordance with the rules and principles stipulated in the Better Regulation Agenda. In this regard, the Commission tries to ensure the provision of input from those affected by the envisaged legislation and relevant stakeholders so as to enhance the quality of the output and boost citizens’ trust in it. Consumer protection constitutes one of the policy fields that notably profits from the assertiveness of citizens and their organizations, who are actively involved in the EU decision-making procedure. In this regard, the aim of this paper is to analyze how consumer participation is structured in light of the Better Regulation Agenda rules and identify the pitfalls of the procedure. To address this issue, the example of the revision of the Consumer Credit Directive will be employed.