EUROPEJSKI AKT O DOSTĘPNOŚCI JAKO INSTYTUCJONALNA ODPOWIEDŹ NA ZAWODNOŚĆ RYNKU: PERSPEKTYWA OCHRONY KONSUMENTA
THE EUROPEAN ACCESSIBILITY ACT AS AN INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE TO MARKET FAILURE: A CONSUMER PROTECTION PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to present the European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882 - EAA) as an institutional instrument of the European Union that corrects market failure by internalising the social costs of the inaccessibility of products and services, reducing negative externalities and transaction costs, and thereby strengthening consumer protection within the internal market. The analysis demonstrated that the EAA establishes accessibility requirements as a minimal, common quality standard within the EU internal market. It reduces transaction costs for consumers and increases regulatory predictability for enterprises. The market surveillance system relieves consumers and strengthens the enforcement of compliance. Consequently, the protection model becomes preventive, while the social costs of inaccessibility are internalised by enterprises, which mitigates negative externalities and corrects market failure. The study introduces an interpretation of the EAA as a market regulation correcting failure in the spirit of the New Institutional Economics (NEI), linking consumer protection with quality-based competition. Its contribution lies in applying this perspective to the EAA and demonstrating that shifting responsibility to enterprises through the internalisation of social costs strengthens consumers' position in the market.

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