MEPs on Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs confirmed on Thursday 9 January the European Parliament's position on the proposed directive which, for the first time, will establish minimum rules in the EU for a collective redress procedure accessible to consumers who have been harmed by illegal and unfair practices by the same company, such as Volkswagen in the Dieselgate matter, for example.
In doing so, they gave a mandate by 20 votes in favour and 2 abstentions to rapporteur Geoffroy Didier (EPP, France) to start negotiations with the EU Council on this directive, which will allow consumers to group together and be represented by qualified non-profit entities - such as approved consumer organisations - to assert their rights and obtain compensation for damage suffered or a price reduction.
"Europeans will finally have access to a single accessible and efficient procedure", Geoffroy Didier is pleased to announce in a press release. Under no circumstances will it be a system comparable to the American-style class actions. The text aims to strike a balance between the protection of consumers' interests and the establishment of safeguards against commercial, abusive or slanderous actions.
This legislative proposal will reinforce the 2009 EU Directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers. It was presented in April 2018 by the European Commission as part of the 'New Deal for Consumers' to strengthen consumer rights. Most of the new rules introduced by this legislative package entered into force at the beginning of January (see EUROPE 12398/12).
The Parliament took a decision in March 2019, during the previous parliamentary term (see EUROPE 12222/11). The EU Council, for its part, did not adopt its position until the end of November (see EUROPE 12379/1). The first meeting of interinstitutional negotiations (Parliament and EU Council assisted by the Commission) could take place as early as next week. The date has yet to be set. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)