Through a magnifying glass: A study of the concept of transparency in European consumer contract law

Despite its fundamental importance in European consumer law, transparency remains an under-analysed concept lacking a clear definition. Transparency is typically not defined independently of traders’ obligations to furnish consumers with information. Nevertheless, besides imposing comprehensive disclosure obligations on traders, European consumer law also expects them provide consumers with information of a certain quality. This information must meet various transparency requirements such as plainness, intelligibility, conciseness, and prominence, and comply with particular design and standardisation requirements. Yet, European consumer law provides insufficient guidance on interpreting and applying these requirements. This comparative study addresses this gap by offering a comprehensive examination of transparency, standardisation, and design requirements within the Unfair Contract Terms Directive, the Consumer Credit Directive, and the Consumer Rights Directive. This approach facilitates a clear distinction between the provision of mandatory information and its transparent presentation to consumers. The study examines how transparency is interpreted and evaluated in practice and the extent to which this aligns with the objectives of informed consumer choice and legal certainty. Furthermore, it specifically addresses the transparency of consumer information in the online environment by analysing how well the concept of transparency in European consumer law accounts for the impact of digitalisation. In addition to exploring the European perspective on information transparency, this research includes an in-depth analysis of national approaches to transparency under these directives in German, Croatian, and English law.