On 11th April, the European Commission proposed a new deal for European consumers. The idea behind it is to allow EU consumers to fully enforce their rights under EU law.
In order to reach this goal the EU Commission has published a package of measures including:
- A proposal aiming at ensuring better enforcement and modernising 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 aiming at improving 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 Commission forsees it will be possible for a qualified entity, such as a consumer organisation, to seek redress, such as compensation, replacement or repair, on behalf of a group of consumers that have been harmed by an illegal commercial practice.
- A Communication including an action plan to develop and strengthen coordinated enforcement actions among authorities and their international cooperation with authorities from key trading partners.
It is important to note that the proposed scope of the collective redress mechanism proposal includes financial services.
The proposals will now be discussed in the European Parliament and in the Council.
More information
- A New Deal for Consumers: Commission strengthens EU consumer rights and enforcement – Press Release, European Commission
- Proposal for Directive on collective interests/representative actions
- Commission communication on “a New Deal for Consumers”
- Factsheet: How will the Collective redress mechanism work?
- Other Relevant Documents
By Aurélie CASSOU, Senior Adviser – European Affairs, ABBL & ALFI
