Brussels, 02/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament (EP) is calling for a consistent EU approach to class action collective court cases so that ordinary people are properly able to defend their rights and receive damages for faulty goods and services. The EP has welcomed the European Commission's work in this domain, asking it to carefully examine how such legal action could be introduced in practice. This was the main message of a resolution passed by the EP plenary on Thursday 2 Febuary 2012.
The MEPs also want the Commission to establish in its research whether action is needed at EU level, while respecting subsidiarity, to improve EU law to allow victims of infringements of EU legislation to receive damages in order to shore up consumer trust and improve the way the single market operates. The resolution states that collective legal proceedings could cut costs and increase legal security for both plaintiffs and defendant, not to mention the legal system itself. The EP believes when it comes to competition, pubic scrutiny of application of the law is vital if the EU treaties are to be properly applied, if the objectives of the European Union are to be fully put into practice and if European competition law is to be properly applied by the European Commission and national competition authorities.
Delighted with the passing of the resolution, consumer organisation BEUC warmly encourages the European Commission to introduce an appeals system to enable European consumers to receive collective damages for rogue trading practices or faulty goods and services. Monique Goyens, BEUC director general, said that people had been waiting for EU legislation for too long and there is such a clear need for it as 79% of European consumers say they would be more likely to go to court if they could join forces with other injured parties. In the EU alone, it is estimated that illegal price-fixing would result, if taken to court, to damages of over €20 billion being awarded each year, and cartels are only the tip of the iceberg. (AN/transl.fl)