The objective of this article is to analyse the establishment of consumer law and the effects this has had in Colombia and other Latin American countries as well as in the European Union.The main principles of consumer protection such as social justice, economic freedom and solidarity, consecrated in the Colombian Constitution of 1991, have gradually developed into solid legislation but have been seriously affected by the reality of dominant economic interests. With reference to European Union Law, this article is a comparative study of consumer law in order to demonstrate how the legislator should determine the conditions which constitute the consumer profile.