EU Consumer Rights Standards

Over the last 30 years, the EU has steadily accrued a very valuable body of consumer rights establishing a solid legal framework including the right to receive important consumer information, protection against misleading and aggressive marketing practices, a 2 year legal guarantee, the rights of return and refund, the right to transparent and fair contracts, which all protect and reassure consumers when they buy products and services domestically and from abroad. Last year the Consumer Rights Directive overhauled a large part of this acquis and for a long time looked likely it would water down many national protections for the sake of uniformity, while also abandoning the traditional principle of minimum harmonisation. In close cooperation with our member organisations, and on the basis of many practical cases, we convinced legislators to introduce substantive changes including modern protections on unjustified fees for using credit cards and information obligations when buying digital products.