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If the Commission had its way, a uniform set of consumer rights across Europe would be introduced in future, which would replace the national consumer rights. This, however, would be associated with a deterioration of the rights of consumers in many Member States. However, a full harmonisation of consumer rights, as it is proposed by the Commission, will not take place, said MEP Andreas Schwab of the European People’s Party (EPP), who is in charge of this dossier, during a debate with national MEPs last Tuesday. As usual, however, the discussion once again concentrated on small and medium-sized businesses, which needed to be relieved urgently.

According to the Conservative Schwab, small and medium-sized business (SMBs) would spend about 20,000 Euro on legal advice costs in the consumer sector. He did, however, not give any explanation as to how he arrived at these figures. SMBs should not be burdened with information obligations; customers, however, were supposed to get essential information. Schwab can only imagine a target-oriented full harmonisation. This, however, should be preceded by genuine stocktaking. Auctions should be included in the Directive. The statutory duty of the customer to inspect the merchandise and notify the supplier of any defects (the customer must prove that the manufacturer is responsible for the damage) should be cancelled without replacement. Liability issues should be unified.

National MEPs against full harmonisation

The representative of the Austrian Parliament made a clear statement: full harmonisation would be a retrograde step. In most cases, consumers would be in a weaker position; this would have to be taken into account. The member of the National Parliament of Austria came out in favour of minimum harmonisation and a gradual improvement of the consumer rights. Concerning the contract law, he drew attention to a number of points, which could lead to legal uncertainties.

The French National Assembly is particularly active: three sittings were already held on this subject, one of which was a video conference with the European Parliament. They too demand that no retrograde steps should be taken with regard to consumer rights; the subsidiarity had to be taken into account. Full harmonisation should only be considered for the definition of terms or similar.

Similar comments were made by MEPs from the German Bundestag and from Spain. The Polish representative was more cryptic, demanding an economic, legal and social impact assessment of the harmonisation.

The role of consumer protection is not to create the internal market; it should give rights to consumers

The MEP Evelyne Gebhardt of the Social Democrats also voiced harsh criticism at the proposal of the Commission. All Member States had better provisions in certain areas than the proposal of the Commission. The role of consumer protection would not be to create the internal market but to provide consumers with rights. The Alliance of Socialists and Democrats had already decided that full harmonisation was the wrong way to take. They are therefore supporting a minimum harmonisation.