As of 1 September 2009 Bram Duivenvoorde (Middelburg, 1985) has started his PHD research at the Centre for the Study of European Contract Law.
He studied law at Utrecht University, including an exchange at Bucerius Law School (Hamburg, Germany). He just completed the Masters degree in Legal Research at Utrecht University, specialising in consumer law.
The topic of his PhD research will be the average consumer in European consumer law. The notion of the average consumer (who is presumed to be reasonably well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect) was introduced by the European Court of Justice in the Gut Spingenheide case and serves to determine whether a commercial communication is misleading or not. It proves to be an important factor in balancing the freedom of goods and the protection of consumers. The research project will focus - amongst others - on the application and impact of the notion in different Member States and on the relation of the average consumer with other fields of consumer law and private law.
