In June of this year, the European Parliament voted in favour of the proposal for a new Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on consumer rights. The wording of the Directive adopted by the European Parliament differs considerably from the original proposal, which was submitted by the European Commission as early as 2008 and which was also discussed within APEK. This circular will be devoted only to introductory basic information relating to the Directive in question, which we considered appropriate to mention already now, given the significance of this Directive. We will then address in greater detail the individual specific changes that this Directive will bring from the trader’s perspective in future legal circulars. In this context, it is appropriate to point out that some information regarding the legislative changes contained in the Directive that appeared in the media was not always entirely accurate.

At the outset, it is appropriate to recall from a general perspective that Directives of the European Union do not fundamentally (unlike Regulations of the European Union) have so-called direct effect, and their content is therefore always incorporated into the individual national legal orders of the countries of the European Union. This means that the precise form of the rights and obligations arising for entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic from the Directive on consumer rights will only be known in the future, that is, after the Directive has also been incorporated through the Czech legislative process.

The new Directive on consumer rights entirely repeals and replaces two earlier Directives that related to the issue of internet sales or distance contracts, and amends two further Directives. Repealed and replaced is Council Directive 85/577/EEC on the protection of the consumer in respect of contracts negotiated away from business premises, and further Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts. Amended are Council Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees.

From the point of view of the principles on which the regulation of consumer law within the EU is based, it is interesting to pay attention to Article 1 of the proposal for the Directive on consumer rights. This provision states (in accordance with the current regulation) that the purpose of the Directive is to achieve the proper functioning of the internal market, which is to be achieved through harmonisation of provisions at national level, together with ensuring a high level of consumer protection. The purpose of harmonisation of consumer law at Community level is therefore not primarily the protection of consumers (as is sometimes erroneously stated), but rather an effort to improve the functioning of the EU internal market.

From the point of view of legislative technique, it is appropriate to mention that the original proposal for the Directive on consumer rights was based on full harmonisation (practically unification) of the affected areas of consumer law at Community level, despite the fact that for these purposes the form of Regulation is used in most cases (see above). Such full harmonisation could have been beneficial for traders, as it would have meant that identical rules would apply in all EU Member States. However, this concept of full harmonisation was abandoned, also for the reason that in some countries it would in effect have meant a restriction of already existing consumer rights (there would have been a reduction in the level of this protection). The current form of the proposal for the Directive on consumer rights thus chooses a different solution in its Article 4. Where it is expressly stated within an individual provision of the Directive, Member States may adopt stricter regulation in the area of consumer protection than that contained in the Directive.

As mentioned above, we will address the specific changes that the Directive on consumer rights will bring into practice in future circulars. Of the changes contained in the Directive, it is possible to mention, for example, the introduction of the same length of period for withdrawal from a consumer contract in all EU Member States, the establishment of new obligations in the distribution of digital content for providers of such content, the explicit establishment of an obligation to reimburse the costs of transport of goods upon withdrawal from a contract by the consumer (see legal circular No. 6/2011), or the introduction of a more detailed specification of the purpose of the right to withdraw from a consumer contract and a clearer definition of the scope of the consumer’s rights when using goods before withdrawal from a consumer contract, etc.

This text was translated from Czech to English using an AI translator.