July 11, 2017

The Commission says that, further to the recently concluded Fitness Check of consumer and marketing law and evaluation of the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/EU/83), the Commission is seeking stakeholders’ views on possible targeted legislative changes in some key EU consumer law Directives. The evidence gathered during the Fitness Check points to the following areas where legislative changes may be necessary to fine-tune consumer law:

• providing more transparency on with whom consumers conclude contracts when buying on online platforms (online marketplaces) and whether EU consumer rights are applicable to such contracts;
• extension of some consumer rights to contracts for online services where consumers provide data instead of paying with money;
• individual redress/remedies for consumers harmed by unfair commercial practices, for example misleading green claims;
• more proportionate, effective and deterrent financial penalties to tackle breaches of consumer laws; and
• simplification of some rules and requirements.

The Commission is also seeking views on certain issues related to national rules banning doorstep selling.

The Fitness Check also concluded on the need to consider changes to the rules on misleading and comparative advertising in business-to-business (B2B) relations. The findings of the Fitness Check will therefore inform future action in the area of B2B relations (notably on platform-to-business relations) within the Digital Single Market context.

The Fitness Check also suggested a possible revision of the Injunctions Directive (2009/22/EC). The Commission says that since this is closely linked to the evaluation of the 2013 Recommendation on collective redress, it will be assessed at a later stage and therefore falls outside the scope of the present consultation. The closing date for responses is 8 October 2017. To access the consultation, click here.