Negotiators from the European Parliament, the Swedish Presidency of the EU Council and the European Commission met, during the evening of Monday 24 April, to start interinstitutional negotiations (trilogue) on the May 2022 proposal to adapt the legislation on financial service contracts concluded at a distance to the digitalisation of the market.
As is customary, this first trilogue meeting allowed each party to present its position on this proposal which will modernise EU law and repeal Directive 2002/65/EC.
It took place in a “very cordial and constructive” atmosphere, according to a source close to the case.
The EU Council adopted its position in early March (see EUROPE 13133/2). The European Parliament confirmed, on 19 April, that it would negotiate on the basis of the report by Arba Kokalari (EPP, Swedish) voted in Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) on 28 March, without a vote in plenary (see EUROPE 13151/9).
Both the EU Council and the European Parliament are in favour of introducing a ‘Financial Services’ chapter in the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU), which the Commission does not oppose in principle.
However, there will be a lot of work to do at the technical level to: - identify what the implications would be for SMEs in the absence of an impact assessment; - agree on the level of harmonisation and identify where Member States could go further than the Directive; - reconcile views on the withdrawal button for online distance contracts proposed by the Commission, but preferred by the European Parliament for a withdrawal function.
There is also a need to review existing consumer protection and digital legislation to avoid duplication with the DSA (Digital Service Act).
The second ‘trilogue’ could take place in early June. This will depend on the technical progress made.
To see the respective positions of the co-legislators: https://aeur.eu/f/6jg (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)