The Notion of Consumer in the EU Law

Consumer protection has been included among the EU policies by the Maastricht Treaty and has become one of the EU dominant policies. A consumer is considered as a weaker party in the private legal relationships and therefore should be protected against a stronger contract party. However, the question “who is a consumer” arises very often. The judicature of the Court of Justice of the EU proves that the notion of consumer is still not clearly defined in the secondary law of the EU. The present paper brings the overview how the notion of consumer has developed in the EU secondary law and in the judicature of the Court of Justice of the EU and it points out actual issues related to the notion of consumer.