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BackAccording to the wishes of the European Commission, it is the intention to implement an additional EU Sales Law for cross-border transactions. Following months of exploratory work, hearings and workshops in the European Parliament, co-rapporteur Luigi Berlinguer of the Social Democrats presented the long anticipated draft report on the EU Sales Law this week. However, in accordance with an initial verdict of consumer protection organisations, disappointment about the Parliament text clearly prevails.
The draft report was prepared by Klaus-Heiner Lehne of the European People’s Party and Luigi Berlinguer of the European Social Democrats. In spite of strong criticism by consumer and economic organisations (we reported – see also “Strong criticism of the new Commission proposal on common European Sales Law”) little has changed with regarded to the basic concept pursued by the Commission.
EU Sales Law shall apply to distance selling
According to rapporteur Berlinguer there will be a separate EU Sales Law in addition to national legislation. However, its scope shall be restricted to distance selling and thereby in particular to online trading.
Payment for using a faulty product?
It becomes complicated in case of problems with a purchase, as the rapporteurs do not propose fewer than three alternatives with regard to possible remedial measures for consumers. These three options include for example the alternative that the consumer has to pay a kind of rent for a faulty product, should he decide to withdraw from the contract rather than have it repaired or replaced by a new product. Such a regulation would be a clear disadvantage for the consumer and criticism by consumer protection organisations is thereby guaranteed. The other two alternatives are no less problematic, as here too particular emphasis has been placed on the idea to make a withdrawal from a purchase contract more difficult.
Positive, however, is the consideration of the rapporteurs concerning digital contents, to provide for remedial measures for consumers, even if the product is not “paid” for with money but with the surrender of personal data, for example. That means that the consumer, in case of faulty products, could insist on warranty fulfilment, even if no money changed hands for the provision of the service.
Strong criticism by Greens and Social Democrats
Following the presentation of the report, both Greens and Social Democrats did not hold back with criticism. The Green MEP Eva Lichtenberger pointed out that the idea of a common EU Sales Law was certainly interesting; however, if this would mean the weakening of national consumer rights, it had definitely to be rejected. She is in favour of an ambitious approach with regard to consumer protection. In particular economic interests were often considered; she, in contrast, would support stronger consumer protection.
That the Social Democrats still feel the need for discussing the issue, was demonstrated by the contribution of the French Social Democrat MEP Françoise Castex. She is against an optional instrument (applying either the EU Sales Laws or the national regulations) as this would be confusing for the consumer. Both consumer and economic organisations had clearly come out against the legislative proposal, as it would lead to legal uncertainty. Apart from that the consumer was not able to choose which law would apply. Hence, Castex does clearly not agree with her colleague Berlinguer, who is the co-author of the draft report. According to information of AK EUROPA, there are also other Social Democrat EU representatives who take a critical stance toward the EU Sales Law in its present form. Hence, it will be interesting to see which of the options the Social Democrats will go for in the end.
Liberal Thein: Consumer problems used as an excuse by lobby groups
Liberal EU representatives present a completely different picture. According to her own comments, the German MEP Alexandra Thein is not as concerned about consumer protection as Castex and Lichtenberger. In practice, consumers, making cross-border purchases, would not assert their legal claims and would therefore be without any protection. From her point of view, things could only improve. Various lobby groups would use alleged consumer problems only as an excuse. However, the resistance in the Member States towards the proposal was very strong. She had heard the rumour that the Commission, given the level of resistance, was considering the withdrawal of the proposal.
However, Dirk Staudenmayer of the Commission made it clear that the Commission was definitively not planning to withdraw the proposal. Staudenmayer expressly praised the draft report as was also underlined by the Commission in a separate press release.
However, the last word on the EU Sales Law has not yet been spoken, as the legislative proposal is dealt with in close cooperation with the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. Here too another report must be submitted, which, however, could be rather more critical than the text by the Legal Committee. Apart from that, agreement will also have to be reached at Council level; however, according to comments by MEP Thein this will not be an easy task. Hence, it will be interesting to see how the discussion on the EU Sales Law will progress.
EU Sales Law shall apply to distance selling
According to rapporteur Berlinguer there will be a separate EU Sales Law in addition to national legislation. However, its scope shall be restricted to distance selling and thereby in particular to online trading.
Payment for using a faulty product?
It becomes complicated in case of problems with a purchase, as the rapporteurs do not propose fewer than three alternatives with regard to possible remedial measures for consumers. These three options include for example the alternative that the consumer has to pay a kind of rent for a faulty product, should he decide to withdraw from the contract rather than have it repaired or replaced by a new product. Such a regulation would be a clear disadvantage for the consumer and criticism by consumer protection organisations is thereby guaranteed. The other two alternatives are no less problematic, as here too particular emphasis has been placed on the idea to make a withdrawal from a purchase contract more difficult.
Positive, however, is the consideration of the rapporteurs concerning digital contents, to provide for remedial measures for consumers, even if the product is not “paid” for with money but with the surrender of personal data, for example. That means that the consumer, in case of faulty products, could insist on warranty fulfilment, even if no money changed hands for the provision of the service.
Strong criticism by Greens and Social Democrats
Following the presentation of the report, both Greens and Social Democrats did not hold back with criticism. The Green MEP Eva Lichtenberger pointed out that the idea of a common EU Sales Law was certainly interesting; however, if this would mean the weakening of national consumer rights, it had definitely to be rejected. She is in favour of an ambitious approach with regard to consumer protection. In particular economic interests were often considered; she, in contrast, would support stronger consumer protection.
That the Social Democrats still feel the need for discussing the issue, was demonstrated by the contribution of the French Social Democrat MEP Françoise Castex. She is against an optional instrument (applying either the EU Sales Laws or the national regulations) as this would be confusing for the consumer. Both consumer and economic organisations had clearly come out against the legislative proposal, as it would lead to legal uncertainty. Apart from that the consumer was not able to choose which law would apply. Hence, Castex does clearly not agree with her colleague Berlinguer, who is the co-author of the draft report. According to information of AK EUROPA, there are also other Social Democrat EU representatives who take a critical stance toward the EU Sales Law in its present form. Hence, it will be interesting to see which of the options the Social Democrats will go for in the end.
Liberal Thein: Consumer problems used as an excuse by lobby groups
Liberal EU representatives present a completely different picture. According to her own comments, the German MEP Alexandra Thein is not as concerned about consumer protection as Castex and Lichtenberger. In practice, consumers, making cross-border purchases, would not assert their legal claims and would therefore be without any protection. From her point of view, things could only improve. Various lobby groups would use alleged consumer problems only as an excuse. However, the resistance in the Member States towards the proposal was very strong. She had heard the rumour that the Commission, given the level of resistance, was considering the withdrawal of the proposal.
However, Dirk Staudenmayer of the Commission made it clear that the Commission was definitively not planning to withdraw the proposal. Staudenmayer expressly praised the draft report as was also underlined by the Commission in a separate press release.
However, the last word on the EU Sales Law has not yet been spoken, as the legislative proposal is dealt with in close cooperation with the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee. Here too another report must be submitted, which, however, could be rather more critical than the text by the Legal Committee. Apart from that, agreement will also have to be reached at Council level; however, according to comments by MEP Thein this will not be an easy task. Hence, it will be interesting to see how the discussion on the EU Sales Law will progress.