More consumer justice? EU-wide collective redress agreed on

One of the commonly recognised gaps in EU consumer protection was the lack of harmonised collective redress options for consumers. Only some Member States have introduced their own collective actions and the procedures differed, sometimes significantly, between countries. On June 22, the European Parliament and the Council have reached a long-awaited deal on the proposed Directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers (see our post on the draft proposal of April 2018 here), which also will repeal the Injunctions Directive.

The European Parliament notified in a press release (New rules allow EU consumers to defend their right collectively) on what was agreed with the Council:

• min of 1 representative action procedure for injunction and redress measures available per Member State (allowing both domestic and cross-border actions)
• qualified entities who will be entitled to launch actions for injunction and redress on behalf of groups of consumers are to be supported (also financially)
• qualified entities for cross-border actions will need to prove independent and non-profit character as well as 12 months of activity in protecting consumers' interests prior to their appointment as qualified entities; Member States may choose different criteria for qualifying entities for domestic actions
• 'loser pays principle' applies
• national law may allow courts or administrative authorities to dismiss manifestly unfounded cases at initial stages
• Commission is to assess whether to establish a European Ombudsman for collective redress (cross-border actions)
• aside general consumer law claims, the actions could be brought specifically in the following areas: data protection, financial services, travel and tourism, energy, telecommunications, environment and health, passenger rights

For those looking for the final text of the Directive - this deal still needs to be officially accepted by the Parliament and the Council (the procedure file is available here). When it actually is published and enters into force, Member States will have 2 years to transpose the measures. This part of the New Deal has by no means been an easy fix, but great progress has been made.

UPDATE: text available now here.