Are Consumers Protected in the Liberalised Environment? An Analysis Based on the European Regulatory Framework Relating to Electronic Communications (Les consommateurs sont-ils protégés dans l'environnement libéralisé? Une analyse fondée sur l'étude du cadre réglementaire européen relatif aux communications électroniques)

The liberalisation process has been carried out in the name of consumers. Today, it appears that that process has probably brought economic advantages for them. Prices have come down and new goods/services have been made available on the markets concerned. In this paper, we analyse whether economic advantages have come together with improvements to the legal status of consumers, i.e. the protection they enjoy from a legal point of view. The study is based on an analysis of the provisions contained in the EC regulatory framework on electronic communications