Professor Panos Koutrakos mentioned in Opinion (Sept 2022) by Advocate General of European Court of Justice

Professor Panos Koutrakos is mentioned in the Opinion by Advocate General Medina in Case C-407/21 Union fédérale des consommateurs – Que choisir (UFC – Que choisir) Consommation, logement et cadre de vie (CLCV) v Premier ministre, Ministre de l’Économie, des Finances et de la Relance.

This case is a reference to the Court of Justice by the French Council of State (Conseil d’État). It is about the COVID 19 pandemic and the right of national authorities to introduce temporary derogations from consumer legislation governing package travel contracts. The dispute was about French legislation dealing with the pandemic and which allowed travel package organisers to issue travellers with vouchers instead of a refund as a means of managing their immediate liquidity problems. The issue was the compatibility of such measures with EU law, in particular Directive 2015/2302 on package travel.

In her Opinion, delivered on 15 September 2022, Advocate General Medina referred to the book edited by Panos Koutrakos (along with N Nic Shuibhne and P Syrpis), Exceptions from EU Free Movement Law- Derogation, Justification and Proportionality (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2016).

Professor Koutrakos has written and advised on EU law, including free movement of goods, services, and persons, as well as various aspects of the relationship between EU and international law.