EU to modernize law on consumer protection

European Union is modernizing and reinforcing its consumer protection laws. Member States' ambassadors meeting in the Council's Permanent Representatives Committee approved a deal, on 29 March, reached between Romania’s EU Council Presidency and European Parliament on a draft directive which amends four existing EU directives protecting consumers' interests.

Directive covers a wide range of topics. It amends unfair commercial practices directive 2005/29/EC, consumer rights directive 2011/83/EU, unfair contract terms directive 93/13/EEC and price indication directive 98/6/EC. Together with a proposal on representative actions for the protection of collective interests of consumers, it is part of 'New Deal for Consumers' launched by the Commission in 2017.

Agreed text provides for:

• enhanced harmonization and streamlining of some of the criteria to be used to determine the level of penalties for infringements of EU consumer law;

• a right to individual remedies for consumers when they are harmed by unfair commercial practices, such as aggressive marketing, and provided that these remedies are proportionate, effective and do not affect the application of other remedies available to consumers under EU or national law;

• enhanced transparency in online transactions, in particular regarding the use of online reviews, personalized pricing based on algorithms or higher ranking of products due to ‘paid placements’;

• obligation of online marketplaces to inform consumers on whether the responsible trader in a transaction is the seller and/or the online marketplace itself;

• protection of consumers in respect of 'free' digital services, namely digital services for which consumers do not pay money but provide personal data, such as: cloud storage, social media and email accounts;

• clear information for consumers in case of price reduction;

• removal of disproportionate burdens, such as the obligation to use outdated means of communication, imposed on businesses by existing legislation;

• clarifications regarding Member States' freedom to adopt rules to protect the legitimate interests of consumers with regard to some particularly aggressive or misleading marketing or selling practices in the context of off-premises sales;

• clarifications regarding the way misleading marketing of 'dual quality' products should be dealt with by Member States.

Next steps

Following standard legal/linguistic scrutiny, text will be adopted by European Parliament and EU Council. Member States will have 24 months from entry into force of the directive to transpose it into national law.

Source:Romania2019.eu,Consilium