The European Ecommerce Association has recently adopted its position on the Proposal amending four EU Directives as regards better enforcement and modernisation of EU consumer protection rules. More specifically, in April 2018, the European Commission proposed two Directives that constitute the “New Deal for Consumers”, namely:
- A proposal to amend the Council Directive on unfair terms in consumer contracts, the Directive on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers, the Directive concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices and the Directive on consumer rights. The Commission’s aim is to ensure better enforcement and to modernize EU consumer protection rules, in particular in light of digital developments;
- A proposal on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and repealing the Injunctions Directive 2009/22/EC. The Commission’s aim is to improve tools for stopping illegal practices and facilitating redress for consumers where many of them are victims of the same infringement of their rights, in a mass harm situation.
The position paper published by Ecommerce Europe covers only the first proposed Directive, while the Collective Redress Directive will be covered in a second position paper. Ecommerce Europe agrees with the European Commission on the fact that EU Consumer Law is generally already fit for purpose and need only some targeted adjustments. Some amendments are likely to foster online sales in the European Union by removing current burdensome obligations on online merchants. Nevertheless, Ecommerce Europe questions other adjustments that may ultimately harm businesses. We look forward to continuing the discussions with the policymakers on these important legislative files.
For more information, please click here to download the position paper .