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EC’S PROPOSLAS FOR FASTER, EASIER AND CHEAPER SOLUTIONS
TO DISPUTES WITH TRADERS
On 29 November European Commission unveiled a package of legislative proposals to
ensure that all EU consumers can solve their problems without going to court
[Warsaw, 1 December 2011] – In 2010, one in five European consumers encountered
problems when buying goods and services in the single market. If a seller refuses to repair
your laptop which broke down when under guarantee or if you cannot come to agreement
with a travel agent over a refund for a ruined holiday, there are ways to sort it out without
going to court. But, unfortunately, at this stage, out-of-court dispute resolution in the EU
is possible only for some business sectors or in some areas. To tackle this issue, the
European Commission unveiled a package of legislative proposals to ensure that all EU
consumers can solve their problems without going to court, regardless of the kind of
product or service that the contractual dispute is about and regardless of where they
bought it in the European single market (that is, at home or abroad). For consumers
shopping online from another EU country, the Commission wants to create an EU-wide
single online platform, which will allow to solve contractual disputes entirely online
within 30 days.
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for consumers is faster, cheaper and easier to use than
court proceedings. It is estimated that universal access to quality ADR across the EU will
save consumers around €22.5 billion/year. It will also help businesses manage their
customer relations and boost their corporate image. The Commission wants the new
package of laws to help increase consumers’ confidence in the EU-wide single market,
which means for them wider choice and better prices, thus contributing to the growth of
EU economy.
Health and Consumers Commissioner, John Dalli said “It is unacceptable that so many
consumer problems are left unresolved because consumers have no real effective means of
solving disputes with traders. This affects their pockets and hurts their confidence; it also
slows down European growth. Once adopted, the proposals that I am putting forward
today, will help European consumers to use easy, quick and inexpensive ways to sort out
their problems, wherever and however they purchase a product or service in the EU".
What has been adopted?
- The Directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) will ensure that quality out-ofcourt entities exist to deal with any contractual dispute between a consumer and a
business. Under the proposal:
- ADR entities will have to meet certain quality criteria, i.e. be well-qualified
impartial, transparent, effective and fair
- businesses will inform customers about the ADR entity which can deal with a
potential contractual dispute with them
- ADR entities will resolve the disputes within 90 days.
- The Regulation on Online Dispute Resolution will create a EU-wide online platform
(‘ODR platform’) providing consumers and businesses with a single point of entry for
resolving on-line the disputes concerning purchases made on-line in another EU-country.
This single European point of entry will:
- automatically send the consumer’s complaint to the competent national ADR entity
- facilitate the resolution of the dispute within 30 days.
What is in it for consumers and businesses?
- Consumers will have access to an effective and inexpensive way of solving their
disputes with traders, regardless of the goods or services that they buy, however they
buy (online or offline) and wherever they buy in the EU (in their country or abroad).
- Consumers buying on-line from other EU countries will be able to solve their contractual
disputes with EU traders entirely online.
- Consumer savings are estimated at about 0.2% of the EU’s GDP (€22.5 billion).
- For businesses, access to alternative dispute resolution will be key to managing
customer relations and enhancing corporate image, and also to save the costs of
litigation.
- Consumers and traders across Europe will have the assurance that all European out-ofcourt entities called to resolve their disputes will meet the same criteria. They will be
transparent, well-qualified, impartial, effective and fair.
- Ultimately, increased confidence will encourage consumers to behave more actively in
searching for good offers and best prices across the EU single market, thus driving
competition and economic growth.
ADR – a priority of the Polish EU presidency
Empowering consumers and providing them with effective mechanisms to enforce their
rights by guaranteeing access to alternative dispute resolution is one of the priorities of
the Polish presidency of the EU Council in the area of consumer protection.
"In a modern, globalized and digital economy, consumer confidence in the market plays a
key role," said UOKiK President Margaret Krasnodębska-Tomkiel when presenting the
priorities of the Polish presidency during the meeting of the EP Committee on Internal
Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) in July. "Out of court dispute resolution
mechanisms may be cheap, simple and fast solution to disputes involving consumers.
Whereas for entrepreneurs it can be a tool for taking care of their image and maintaining
consumer confidence. The great advantage of ADR is its flexibility - they can be
individually selected and tailored to individual disputes. ADR is also a way to reduce the
burden on the judicial system. In addition, the ADR initiative linking with the system of
dispute resolution on-line (ODR) can help resolve conflict situations in cross-border
relations", added UOKiK President.
Background
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) relies on a neutral party (such as an arbitrator,
mediator or an ombudsman). It is cheaper, quicker and simpler than going to court.
Today, there are more than 750 ADR entities in the EU. However, in some EU countries
they are available only in some regions or only in some sectors (e.g. financial service or
telecommunications to name some). Consumer and business awareness of ADR remains
low. Online dispute resolution systems for cross-border online shoppers are not yet
developed.
The cost of unresolved consumer disputes is estimated at 0.4% of the EU's GDP. This
includes the money lost by European consumers due to problems when shopping from other
EU countries, which is estimated between €500 million and €1 billion.
Next steps
The European Parliament and the EU Council have committed to adopting the package by
the end of 2012 as a priority action in the Single Market Act (see IP/11/469). The package
also completes one of the actions of the Digital Agenda for Europe. After the adoption, EU
Member States will have 18 months to implement the ADR Directive. This means that
quality out-of-court ADRs should be available everywhere in the EU in the second half of
2014.The single EU-wide platform for online dispute resolution will become fully
operational six months after that deadline (i.e. in early 2015), as its operation requires
the setting up and upgrading of out-of-court entities where needed.
For more information
Questions and Answers on the proposal
Further details: http://ec.europa.eu/consumer-adr
Additional information for the media:
Aleksandra Mączyńska, UOKiK’s Spokesperson for the Presidency
Department of International Relations and Communication
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warsaw
Tel. 22 55 60 167
Fax 22 826 11 86
E-mail: [email protected]