Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC ...

Summary of the initiative

Objective(s)
The Directive 2005/29/EC aims to clarify consumers' rights and boost cross-border trading by harmonising EU rules on business-to-consumer commercial practices. The Directive fully harmonises the laws of the Member States relating to unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices. Annex I of the Directive contains a list of commercial practices which shall in all circumstances be regarded as unfair and which are prohibited throughout the EU. Whether commercial practices that are not included in Annex I are unfair and thus prohibited, must be assessed on a case-by-case basis in the light of the criteria laid down in Articles 5 to 9 of the Directive. Certain rules on advertising to children are also set out. The Directive recognises codes of conduct as a way to promote fair business practices. According to Article 10 of the Directive, "The Directive does not exclude the control, which Member States may encourage, of unfair commercial practices by code owners and recourse to such bodies by the persons or organisations referred to in Article 11 if proceedings before such bodies are in addition to the court or administrative proceedings referred to in that Article. Recourse to such control bodies shall never be deemed the equivalent of foregoing a means of judicial or administrative recourse as provided for in Article 11." (Article 11 concerns the enforcement at MS level).

Description of the Initiative

    Sector

    Sector

    Contact Point - Commission
    JUST E2

    Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act

    LEGISLATIVE ACT
    Year
    2005
    Title of Act
    Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’), Official Journal L 149, 11.6.2005, p. 22–39.
    Review, Revision or Sunset Clause Year
    2011

    Geographical Coverage

    Global coverage
    Participating Countries
    Austria

    Description

    Problems that lead to the introduction of Self/Co-Regulation and the adoption of the Founding Act
    Commercial "sharp practices" such as pressure selling, misleading marketing and unfair advertising; Abusive or borderline advertising targeting children.
    Target Group(s)
    Traders
    Type of Instrument(s)
    Code of conduct
    Level(s) at which private rules should be defined and applied
    Type of Financing
    -
    Type of Monitoring
    Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulateesConduct regular visits and spot checksInitiate complaints proceduresMaintain database of those bounded by the normsProduce regular reportsReceive complaints and verify if norms were breached or notReflexive dialogue with the - stakeholdersOther
    European Commission
    National public authority
    International public authority
    Private regulator (code owner)
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs)
    Succinct description of the type of Monitoring
    A Communication and a Report on the application of the Directive were adopted on 14 March 2013. The Report identifies key priorities for action to make sure that enforcement of the UCPD is strengthened both at a national and in a cross-border context.
    Type of Enforcement
    Faming, shaming and blamingJudicial sanctionsMembership suspension/exclusionPrivate finesOther
    Private Regulator
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Court system
    Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR)
    Succinct description of the type of Enforcement
    -

    Results of Commission Monitoring

    Link / Reference of Evaluation
    -