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On Wednesday 8 October the Commission published a proposal for a new Consumer Rights Directive. This framework Directive marks the biggest output so far of the ongoing 'review of the consumer acquis'. The Consumer Rights Directive would repeal four existing European consumer Directives; the Doorstep Selling Directive (85/577/EEC), the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Directive (93/13/EEC), the Distance Selling Directive (97/7/EC) and the Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive (1999/44/EC); and replace them with a single horizontal Directive.
An Impact Assessment has also been produced and we attach links to the relevant documents, including the text of the new Directive.
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/rights/cons_acquis_en.htm
On Monday 10 November 2008 BERR published a consultation on the EU proposals for a Consumer Rights Directive. The consultation closed on Monday 2 February 2009. A summary of responses was published in July 2009.
Please contact euconsumerdirective@bis.gsi.gov.uk or Katherine Stoate on 0207 215 1938 if you have any queries about the new Directive or the wider Review of the Consumer Acquis.
The review is intended to simplify and modernise consumer laws, achieve better regulation and increase consumers’ confidence in the single market.
The eight directives that make up the Consumer Acquis are:
The EU Commission published a Green Paper in February 2007 setting out various options for reform of the Directives and suggesting areas that could be revised with a view to creating an improved framework for consumer protection and simplifying consumers’ rights and responsibilities when they shop across the EU. The UK's Government response to the Green Paper can be found by clicking the related documents link on the right. Further information about the review of the consumer acquis can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/rights/cons_acquis_en.htm
The Consumer Rights Directive raises concerns that the existing rights UK consumers have to reject faulty goods may be lost.
BERR commissioned ICM to carry out a survey of UK retailers to understand better their redress preferences, particularly in the event that the Consumer Rights Directive were implemented as proposed, and how these preferences might diverge from those of consumers. The research provides insight into possible consumer detriment resulting from consumers not having the legal right to exercise their preferences and how competitive pressure might mitigate this.
In 2005 the former DTI commissioned a study into how the consumer acquis might be improved
This is an independent report and does not represent the views of BIS.
The aims of this independent research were to:
(i) consider where the UK law goes further than required by the corresponding EU Directive and,
(ii) provide a detailed analysis of the extent to which the directives might be simplified and rationalised.
In addition, the research identifies which of these additional measures identified in (i) fall within the scope of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD). This is because the UCPD introduces a general duty not to treat consumers unfairly; it also specifically prohibits misleading or aggressive practices and certain other practices. As such it may overlap with some of the provisions identified in (i).
The research was not intended to identify anything that stakeholders find unhelpful in practice about the Directive, but was a legal analysis. This informal consultation extends beyond the research and we do want to hear any other points you wish to make about the directives.
We invited comments from stakeholders on the study report, or on other ideas for change. Responses were used to inform our input to the Commission’s review.
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