The Government approves draft legislation to guarantee high level of protection in the resolution of consumer conflicts to consumers resident in the EU
Date: 31 marzo 2017
Section: Consumo
Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition
- The Council of Ministers, at the request of Dolors Montserrat, has approved today the Draft Legislation for Alternative Dispute Resolution in Consumer Affairs, a rule that incorporates the relevant European directive into the Spanish legislation.
- The draft resolution establishes minimum harmonised quality requirements to be met by those entities responsible for handling out-of-court proceedings for the solution of disputes to be notified and included in a European Commission list.
- The resolution proceedings will be free of charge to the consumer or will have a symbolic charge of a maximum of 30 Euros.
- A resolution time is established of 90 calendar days from the date the claim is submitted.
The Council of Ministers, at the request of the Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality, Dolors Montserrat, has approved today the Draft Legislation for Alternative Dispute Resolution in Consumer Affairs. This incorporates Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 into Spanish legislation and is intended to guarantee the option to resolve disputes with businesses established in any Member State of the European Union to all consumers resident in the EU.
The purpose of the project is to contribute, with a high level of consumer protection, to the proper functioning of the interior market, thus ensuring that in the European Union it is possible to access out-of-court consumer dispute resolution proceedings which are independent, impartial, transparent, effective, fast and fair.
This regulation will help consumers to find a solution to possible problems derived from their contracts with traders without needing to resort to judicial proceedings. The resolution proceedings, the results of which may or may not be binding, will also be available free of charge or at a nominal fee, and will be transparent, simple, fast and fair, guaranteeing impartiality.
With this objective, the regulation establishes the requirements to be met by the entities responsible for managing the alternative resolution so that, if requested, they can be accredited and included in the national list drawn up by the Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition (AECOSAN), who, in turn will notify the European Commission for its inclusion in a single European list.
In addition, the Council of Ministers has in turn agreed the parliamentary procedure to process this draft legislation as a matter of urgency, as it is necessary to incorporate Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 21 May 2013, the purpose of which is to guarantee consumers access to out-of-court dispute resolution bodies.
TRANSPARENCY, CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA PROTECTION
The purpose of the requirements established by the project for the entities wishing to be accredited by the competent authority are to ensure that the consumer has the maximum information and that their rights to confidentiality and data protection are observed.
As regards transparency, the entity shall be obliged to publish details on their Web page including the types of disputes they are competent to deal with, the cost, the languages in which complaints can be submitted, the average length of the procedure and the persons in charge of the dispute resolution.
The professionals who resolve disputes should act with independence and impartiality and shall accredit their knowledge in consumer protection affairs. In the event of a conflict of interest, these persons shall abstain from continuing with the proceedings.
The acceptance of the proceedings managed by these entities shall be voluntary, unless there is a regulation establishing their mandatory nature. If the procedure ends with a solution proposal, the entities must inform the parties that they may withdraw from the procedure. Before expressing their consent, the parties will have a minimum of three days to reflect. In procedures which are binding, the parties must be informed of the binding nature in advance and accept this in writing.
In addition, and to ensure the effectiveness of the procedures, the regulation establishes a maximum of 90 calendar days from the submission of the claim. The cost to the consumer for handling the procedure is set at a maximum of 30 Euros, although procedures which are free of charge will continue to exist.
DISPUTES BETWEEN CONSUMER AND TRADER
The disputes referred to in this draft project are disputes of a national or cross-border nature arising between a consumer and a trader, stemming from sales or service contracts, agreed in person, electronically or by telephone…
The following are excluded from the scope of the draft legislation: non-economic services of general interest, claims referring to health-related services and claims directed at public providers of complementary or secondary education. Disputes between traders, direct negotiation between the consumer and the trader and procedures initiated or handled by the traders are also excluded.