APPENDIX 3: CALL FOR EVIDENCE
EU Sub-Committee G (Social Policy and Consumer Affairs)
is conducting an Inquiry into the issues raised by the European
Commission's proposal for a Directive on consumer rights. This
was adopted by the Commission on 8 October 2008. The relevant
Commission document COM(2008) 614 final, together with an associated
Impact assessment and other relevant documents, is accessible
on the Commission website.[48]
The Commission's Proposal would merge the Directives
on Unfair contract terms (93/13/EC), Sales and Guarantees (99/44/EC),
Distance Selling (97/7/EC) and Doorstep selling (85/577/EC) into
a single "horizontal" Directive which aims to regulate
the common aspects in a systematic fashion, simplifying and updating
the existing rules, removing inconsistencies and closing gaps.
These changes should, in the Commission's view, enhance consumer
confidence and reduce business reluctance to trade across borders.
The aim of our inquiry is to provide an opinion on
the Commission's Proposal, with a view to informing the debate
surrounding the Directive within the United Kingdom Government
and the EU institutions.
Particular questions raised by the Commission's draft
directive to which we invite you to respond are as follows:
The overall objectives and underlying principles
(1) To what extent is it necessary to update
and simplify the existing rules and, if so, why should this be
achieved through the replacement of four Directives by a single
Directive?
(2) Should a single horizontal Directive be desirable,
what should its objective be? Where should the balance between
a high level of consumer protection and the functioning of the
internal market (for both companies and consumers) lie?
(3) How consistent is the draft Directive with
the Commission's broader work on contract law such as the Common
Frame of Reference?[49]
(4) To what extent does the draft Directive succeed
in providing a clear indication of the rights of consumers? How
might the accessibility of the information contained in the Directive
be improved?
Full harmonisation
(5) To what extent do you consider the introduction
of the principle of full harmonisation to be welcome? With reference
where possible to practical examples, what do you consider its
strengths and weaknesses to be?
Scope
(6) Do you consider the scope of the Directive
to be appropriate and do you consider it to be sufficiently clear?
To what extent should the provisions apply more broadly to other
consumer legislation, such as the timeshare (94/47/EC) and package
travel (90/314/EC) Directives?
General consumer information provisions
(7) Articles 5-7 of the draft Directive include
a number of provisions on consumer information. What are your
views on the general information requirements, the provision on
the failure to provide information and the specific information
requirements for intermediaries? What is your view on the application
of the full harmonisation principle on the information requirements?
Consumer information and withdrawal right for distance
and off-premises contracts
(8) What are your views on the provisions regarding
consumer information and the right of withdrawal for distance
and off-premises contracts including: the information requirements;
the length of the withdrawal period; the modalities for exercising
the right of withdrawal and associated obligations; the exceptions
from the right of withdrawal; and the overall exceptions from
the provisions?
Lack of conformity
(9) What do you consider to be the rationale
behind the rules governing the lack of conformity of goods, including
the proposed new hierarchy of remedies? What are their implications?
How might they be applied practically? If necessary, how might
they be amended?
Unfair contract terms
(10)To what extent is it appropriate to exclude negotiated
terms even if any of those terms appear on the "black list"
of terms always considered to be unfair?
(11)To what extent are the lists as proposed suitably
comprehensive and are the general principles for additional terms
robust enough?
(12)Is the procedure for determining when a "grey
list" term (those "presumed to be unfair") can
be used sufficiently clear?
Enforcement and penalties
(13)In the light of your experience with the existing
Directives, do the provisions on enforcement and penalties raise
any particular issues?
We also would welcome your views on any other aspect
of the Commission's draft directive. Written submissions need
not address all questions
Interested parties are invited to submit a concise
statement of written evidence to this inquiry by Friday, 3
April 2009.
48 http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/rights/cons_acquis_en.htm Back
49
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/rights/contract_law_en.htm Back
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