Financial Consumer Protection in the EU:Towards a Self-Sufficient European Contract Law for Consumer Financial Services?

The rapid expansion of European contract law in the field of consumer financial services gives rise to the question to what extent it is self-sufficient. A self-sufficient European contract law presupposes the existence of an EU-made and EU-enforced contract-related legal order which is largely distinct and independent from national private legal orders. In order to understand to what extent European contract law for consumer financial services reflects this pattern, the author explores the interaction between this supra-national regulatory legal order and traditional national private legal orders, and the consequences of this interplay for the extent of financial consumer protection. The author concludes that the self-sufficiency of European contract law is a matter of degree rather than an absolute; besides, a high degree of its self-sufficiency is not a must for ensuring a high level of consumer protection in financial services