European Union – Consumer protection. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Council Directive (EEC) 93/13 (on unfair terms in consumer contracts and the principles of EU law relating to consumer protection and a balance in the parties' rights and obligations) should be interpreted as meaning that statutory and regulatory provisions of a member state, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, were excluded from their scope, when there was no contractual term altering the effect or ambit of those provisions.