Conference

Setting the Agenda: The EU as a Guardian of Digital Fairness and Sustainable Consumption

Date: Thursday 21 May 2026 - Friday 22 May 2026
Location: Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden
Room: Academy Building (Thursday) & Old Observatory (Friday)

The ConsumerID team kindly invites you to a conference and stakeholder meeting on the theme Setting the Agenda: the EU as a Guardian of Digital Fairness and Sustainable Consumption. The meeting will take place at Leiden University on 21 and 22 May 2026 and is hosted by Prof. Vanessa Mak and Dr. Tom Bouwman.

The European Union has in the past decades developed a strong framework of market regulation grounded in the values laid down in the EU Treaties. Starting from the objective of building a social market economy, specific policy aims for consumer markets include the pursuit of a high level of consumer protection, integration of environmental protection in EU legislation, and the protection of personal data. The rights and policies developed are now under threat, as Europe seeks to maintain a competitive position in a geopolitical landscape marked by power relations. Will the EU be able to guard its citizens and maintain adherence to its own values? We examine these questions for consumer markets in light of the Consumer Agenda 2030.

Our aim is to bring together participants from academia, legal practice, law and policy making, enforcement and industry with a view to exchanging ideas on the position of the EU as a guardian of digital fairness and sustainable consumption. We are currently putting together the programme for the event, which will have one day centred on digital markets and one day focusing on consumer law and sustainability. Both days will include:

Keynote speech – leading experts from academia set out the challenges and present their views on the EU’s position in current law and policy making.

Roundtable – all conference participants are invited to take part in a stakeholder discussion on selected themes, such as deregulation and simplification, enforcement, digital fairness and sustainability.

Panel – introductions by representatives from academia, law and policy making and enforcement authorities will form the basis for bringing together the key findings from the discussions had during the day.

As keynote speakers we have already secured contributions from Prof. Mateusz Grochowski (Tulane University) and Prof. Evelyne Terryn (KU Leuven). Prof. Hans Micklitz (European University Institute) will present a synthesis at the end of the conference.

Prof. Mateusz Grochowski (Tulane University)
Prof. Evelyne Terryn (KU Leuven)
Prof. Hans Micklitz (European University Institute)