University of Amsterdam
As Big Tech increasingly influences areas like public discourse, governance, and consumer rights, the EU has responded with two key developments: a growing digital regulatory framework addressing platforms’ services, business models, and data practices, and the emergence of collective redress mechanisms enabling access to justice and enforcement of digital rights. Countries like the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany are seeing a rise in collective litigation, particularly in data and consumer protection. High-profile GDPR cases have challenged unlawful data practices, and collective actions have targeted manipulative interface designs. Recent legislation—including the Digital Markets Act, Digital Services Act, and the AI Act—alongside the revised Product Liability Directive, are shaping a new legal landscape with significant implications for collective enforcement. However, challenges persist. There are disparities across EU legal systems, and the complexity of collective litigation raises questions of representation, resources, and litigation risk. Balancing effective enforcement with the need to avoid frivolous claims is key to sustaining a high standard of digital fairness.
The Conference will explore how collective redress can promote digital fairness—ensuring users, consumers, and businesses are protected from unfair or manipulative practices. It will also consider collective litigation as a form of regulation, complementing public enforcement, and prompting reflection on its alignment with traditional private law values. It will do so, by addressing some fundamental questions:
Held in Amsterdam on 10–11 December 2025 (location TBA), the event features invited speakers and selected academic papers (see Call for Papers below). The program welcomes diverse legal perspectives—procedural, substantive, theoretical, doctrinal, and empirical—at national, EU, and transnational levels. It aims to bridge academia, practice, and policy and encourage a transatlantic dialogue.
Organizing Committee
Dr J.M.L. van Duin, Dr F. Episcopo, Dr A.L. Jonkers, Dr S. De Rey (UvA – Amsterdam Centre for Transformative Private Law), with the support of the Stichting Onderzoek Collectieve Actie.
The conference builds on the organizers’ previous and current research in the field of effective judicial protection, collective redress, private enforcement of digital law, and private law remedies, particularly through the DTDM-funded project APPLIED (Assessing Private Parties Litigation in the Economy of Data), and the ACT research project Integraal Privaatrecht.