Private Law and the European Constitutionalisation of Values

According to the CFREU, the EU is founded on the general values such as values of human dignity, freedom, equality and solidarity. In addition, the TEU refers to a more political set of foundational values, ie respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. These references could be understood as purely ornamental, or as irrelevant in any case for private law. Indeed, it is true that the Court of Justice so far has never made any references to these values in private law cases. Still, the Court already has shown boldness before in the context of the interpretation and review of secondary EU law in private law cases, when it discovered general principles of EU law and general principles of civil law. Therefore, it should not be excluded that the Court may be tempted one day to follow the example of the German constitutional court that famously understands its national constitution as expressing an objective system of constitutional values. This paper explores what such an understanding of private law as an instrument for furthering common European values would entail and examines whether such an ethical reading of European private law would be desirable. It argues that the promotion by the EU of a set of official values through its laws is not compatible we the respect we owe each other in a society characterised by reasonable pluralism. In addition, it points to further difficulties, both of a moral and a practical nature, of the idea of advancing ethical values through private law. It concludes that although it is very well thinkable that the values to which the TEU and the Charter refer will one day be interpreted as an objective value system with (indirect) horizontal effects, the Court of Justice nevertheless should refrain from going down that road

Alienation commodification: a critique of the role of EU consumer law

This paper offers a critique of European Union (EU) consumer law’s role in commodification. Arguing that commodification is best understood as a normatively dependent concept, it contrasts two very different strands of commodification critique. While teleological critique refers to conceptions of the good life, authenticity, or the corruption of human essence, deontological critique relies on conceptions of right and wrong, justice, and human dignity. The paper argues for a specific, Kantian–Marxian version of the latter, proposing to understand commodification as a moral wrong when it leads to legal–political alienation. Such legal–political alienation occurs when someone becomes disconnected or feels dissociated from the political community and its political institutions because its laws treat that person as a mere means, not also an end. The only way to overcome such alienating commodification, the paper argues, is through a dialectic of individual and collective self-determination. On this normative basis, the paper, then, critiques core instances where EU consumer law wrongs its addressees through alienating commodification, including its acceptance of personal data as consideration, its encouragement of consumer resilience, and its privatisation of social justice through ethical consumerism

Functional impairment of monocyte-derived dendritic cells in patients with severe chronic kidney disease

Background. Dendritic cells (DCs) are antigen-presenting cells that are pivotal for the initiation of the primary immune response. Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with or without chronic intermittent haemodialysis (CIHD) show an impaired immune response. Dysfunction of DCs may underlie this phenomenon. Methods. In this study, several different functions of monocyte-derived DCs (moDC) of patients with CKD class IV-V (glomerular filtration rate <30 ml/min) and patients on CIHD were studied in vitro and compared with age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Results. We demonstrate that, independent of the maturation stimulus used, mature moDC from both groups of patients did not acquire the same level of terminal differentiation as moDC from controls, as shown by analysis of cell surface markers and the relative high macropinocytosis activity of moDC. The stimulation of allogeneic T-cells by immature moDC and mature moDC did not differ between patients and controls. However, in the presence of immature moDC or antigen-loaded maturated moDC from patients, less proliferation of autologous T-cells was observed in response to recall antigens. There was no difference between moDC from controls and patients in their ability to activate naive T-cells and to differentiate them into Th1 and Th2 cells. Conclusions. These results show that the terminal differentiation of moDC in patients with severe CKD is impaired. This impairment is not restricted to one maturation stimulus and is independent of treatment with haemodialysis