Alternative dispute resolution

EESC opinion on:

the Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 and amending Regulations (EU) 2017/2394 and (EU) 2018/1724 with regards to the discontinuation of the European ODR Platform, COM(2023) 647 final – 2023/0375 (COD), and

the Proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2013/11/EU on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes, as well as Directives (EU) 2015/2302, (EU) 2019/2161 and (EU) 2020/1828, COM(2023) 649 final – 2023/0376 (COD).

Key points:

The EESC:

• supports the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as an alternative to court proceedings when consumers seek redress for the damage traders may cause them, alongside accessible judicial proceedings and enforcement of consumer rights by national authorities;
• underlines the importance of encouraging Member States and industries to set up such schemes and of encouraging traders, including SMEs, to join them voluntarily and calls on the Commission to review the progress of ADR schemes three years after the implementation of the proposed Directive;
• considers feedback from ADR instances to be extremely valuable both to professionals and legislators or regulators. Therefore, it calls for fast-track reporting of crisis situations on top of the requirement of biennial publication of activity reports by ADR schemes. It calls on the Commission to incorporate feedback from ADR platforms in its evaluations of sectoral regulations;
• calls on the legislators to be more precise about the requirement for consumers to first seek contact with the trader before resorting to an ADR scheme and about sanctions applicable to traders who do not comply with the requirement to report on their acceptance of the ADR procedure within the 20 working days mentioned in the proposals.

For more information, please contact INT secretariat