Die Aktivlegitimation der Verbraucher nach Wettbewerbsverstößen

Unfair Commercial Practices regulations and consumer protection law are essential for the system of free market economy. Since its reform in 2004, the German UWG (Law Against Unfair Commercial Practices ) explicitly intends to protect the consumer. In 2008 this ambition was enhanced by directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair b2c commercial practices in the internal market. Unlike competitors and organisations the consumer still has no right to sue business-competitors for violations of the UWG. The author claims that in order to be protected appropriately from unfair commercial practices, the consumer has to be granted that right, since an analysis reveals that the German Civil Code offers no adequate compensation for the current lack of self-protection rights. The UWG remedy available to consumers' organisation, i.e. skimming off businesses’ gains from unfair commercial practices, is an appropriate instrument to charge scattered torts. To foster the efficiency of the legal process in mass tort actions and to unburden courts it would be useful to establish a consumers' class action or a model action.