Introduction

The Consumer ID project has passed the halfway mark and is well underway. 2025 has been a year in which the project researchers have been primarily focused on carrying out the research plans. All of this with the aim of contributing to contextualised consumer protection. Much of what we have been working on is yet to be published, but we are happy that we can already share several milestones in this recap.

Publications

While the PhD students have primarily been working on their monographs, several publications by Vanessa and Tom have appeared in 2025. Amongst other things, Vanessa has published an article on the contractualization of the consumer worker and has been one of the editors of the volume ‘Empirics and Consumer Law in Changing Markets’. Tom has published in Dutch a monograph on mandatory and default rules and an article on the average consumer after the Compass Banca case. Yet the absolute highlights are two open-access publications in European Law Open:

• Redefining equality in European contract law: protecting consumer interest in a post-consumer society. In this article, Vanessa addresses the question of whether European contract law can sufficiently address inequalities between consumers and businesses arising in digital markets. See also this interview with her about this publication on our blog.
• Not all consumers are the same: how is the differentiation between consumers operationalised in EU consumer law? In this article, Tom addresses the question of how the differentiation between consumers is currently operationalised and how that results in underprotection.

Blog

Although the blog has been a bit quieter than before (something that will change again in 2026), there have also been very topical interviews with Evelyne Terryn, Joris Ruigewaard and Simone van der Hof on topics including greenwashing and the protection of minors online. Two recent blog posts that are worth a (re-)read are: 

• Any Progress in E-Waste Prevention? Collective Action and Resistance Against Software (and Legal) Obsolescence. In this blog post, Anna analyses how software-induced obsolescence challenges core consumer rights, including durability, conformity, and informed choice, and assesses whether existing EU legal instruments are capable of addressing these practices or whether collective action and regulatory reform are needed to close the enforcement gap.
• The 2030 Consumer Agenda: A First Impression. In this blog post, Tom offers his first critical look at the European Commission’s newly presented 2030 Consumer Agenda, highlighting its four strategic consumer-law priorities and reflects on how the Agenda balances consumer protection with competitiveness and simplification within the evolving EU legal framework.

Events organised

In 2025, we organised two seminars. One was with Prof. Björn Hoops (RUG), who presented his research on consumer rights and the ambiguous nature of energy communities as prosumers. His presentation was followed by a reflection by Laura and a lively group discussion. The other seminar was with Prof. Sybe de Vries (Utrecht University), who discussed the modernisation of EU economic law in the context of the green and digital transition. He outlined key challenges that consumers face as economic law adapts to sustainability goals and technological change. Furthermore, Vanessa was involved in the organisation of the symposium ‘Bridging the Abyss: Regulatory Sandboxes for AI’, which centred around a presentation by Prof. Amnon Reichman (Haifa University), and a studiemiddag on Big Tech, which centred around the challenges posed by the growing societal role of large technology companies. However, the main event we wanted to draw your attention to is:

• The two-day early career researchers workshop ‘Redefining Equality in European Private Law – What Principles Can Guide Consumer Protection in the Green and Digital Transitions?’, which was organised by Vanessa and Tom, together with Prof. Charlotte Pavillon and Jie Ouyang. The workshop brought young researchers together in four thematic panels addressing the consumer image, consumer protection in the green transition, the interaction between the green and digital transitions, and the protection of consumer interests in a digitised and datafied world. Hosted by Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, the workshop provided a stimulating forum in which participants not only identified key challenges in European consumer law but also proposed concrete avenues for future reform, fostering an engaging and forward-looking exchange.

Events participated in

In addition to organising events, we have also participated in several events:

• Vanessa presented her article ‘Redefining equality in European contract law: protecting consumer interests in a post-consumer society’ at Universität Osnabrück, took part in the international workshop ‘The Future of Law in the Algorithmic Age’ organized by the University of Florence and Notre Dame University, and took part in a two-day conference in honour of John Cartwright at Christ Church, University of Oxford, where she presented together with Prof. Ewan McKendrick a joint paper on entire agreement clauses in English and Dutch law.
• Tom discussed the right to repair on the Dag van de Reparatie (Day of Repair) together with Prof. Alex-Geert Castermans
• Carolina acted as a discussant in the seminar ‘Rethinking Vulnerability: How Consumer Law Forgets About Elders’ at Maastricht University.
• Laura presented preliminary findings on perceptions of prosumer-sellers on online marketplaces during the ELS Academy kick-off event. She also attended the SECOLA conference in Lyon on the relationship between European and national private law.
• Anna attended the Fixfest in London, where she facilitated an interactive workshop on the right to repair as a collective right, developed through a co-design process with Antonella Maiello. 

Two other highlights were:

• The informal round-table discussion with BEUC. During this round-table discussion, we shared our ongoing research and also learnt more about BEUC's work. This has yielded several new insights and led to inspiration for further research. As a follow-up in December, Anna, Laura and Carolina attended the BEUC event on the 2030 Consumer Agenda in Brussels, where consumer associations and industry representatives shared their vision for the EU's consumer policy.
• The book launch 'Empirics and Consumer Law in Changing Markets'. This volume, edited by Gitta Veldt, Kimia Heidary, and Vanessa Mak, was launched with an accompanying PhD workshop. During the workshop, Carolina presented her research and received helpful feedback on the structure of her empirical study. Laura also presented an overview of her PhD project and preliminary findings of her empirical-legal research.

Personal highlights

This year also marked an important milestone for Vanessa, who joined the editorial board of the Journal of Consumer Policy, further strengthening Consumer ID’s role in international consumer law debates. Similarly, Tom joined the editorial board of the Journal of European Consumer and Market Law as a junior editor. 

Anna spent a research stay at the European University Institute in Florence from late October to late December 2024, where she immersed herself in a new academic environment that broadened her work on European private law and sustainability. During her time there, she attended seminars, engaged with diverse researchers, and reflected on new methodologies that connect legal research to social realities, insights she now brings into the next phase of her project on repair practices.

While we celebrated many achievements this year, we also marked a meaningful farewell within our team. After having made a valuable contribution to project as supervisor of Anna, Helen is leaving academia. We want to thank her for her involvement in our project and wish her a very joyful stay on her farm in Italy (it truly looks beautiful!). 

Looking ahead

As 2025 comes to a close, the Consumer ID team reflects on a year of meaningful scholarship, collaborative research, and engagement with practitioners and policymakers across Europe. Looking ahead, on 21 and 22 May 2026, the Consumer ID project will host the two-day conference ‘Setting the Agenda: the EU as a Guardian of Digital Fairness and Sustainable Consumption’ in Leiden. Currently, we are working on the program and will share it at the beginning of next year. For now, please save the date in your calendar.

Here’s to an equally productive and inspiring 2026!