EU caves in on consumer law following strong opposition

Existing UK consumer rights that would have been wiped out under a new European Union directive now look to be safe.

The European Commission has admitted defeat over its plans under the Consumer Rights Directive to fully harmonise consumer protection law.

It now hopes to win support from members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for a watered-down version. This is likely to allow countries such as the UK to keep protection such as the right to reject faulty goods.

Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner for consumer protection had only days earlier said “cross-border rights means that EU countries may have to adjust some national rules that go further than the [directive’s] proposal”.

However she has thrown in the towel and when talking to the European Parliament admitted full harmonisation was “no longer an option”.

The aim of full harmonisation of consumer laws across member states was to encourage cross border trading. At the same time it would also strengthen the laws in countries where consumers have few rights.

However Article 4 barred provisions that diverged from the directive; even if they increased consumer protection.

This clause, along with the directive setting the bar too low for countries such as the UK and Denmark, which have strong laws protecting consumer rights, caused huge concern.

In the UK the directive would have ended the right to reject faulty goods, replacing this protection with a repair or replacement option; even if a fault was discovered on the day goods were bought.

UK consumers would also have been given a shorter time in which to seek redress for faulty goods. Currently under the Sale of Goods Act shoppers have up to six years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and five years in Scotland.

Strong opposition to the directive was mounted by UK consumer rights organisation Consumer Focus, which lobbied hard against the changes.

The legal reform bodies, the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission, also advised the Government to oppose the abolition of the right to reject.

Even as Ms Reding tried to resurrect the by now stalled directive in its original format, organisations continued to voice their opposition.

At a consumer rights summit in Brussels last week, attended by Computeractive, organisations told us that full harmonisation as put forward by the directive was not in the best interests of consumers.

Now Ms Reding has said that the Commission would draw up a new version of the directive, which would allow countries greater discretion in setting consumer protection.

Jill Johnstone, international director, Consumer Focus told us that the organisation welcomed the move.

"We are very pleased with the new approach the European Commission is taking on the consumer rights directive.

"Since the proposal was published late 2008, Consumer Focus has been calling for the maximum harmonisation approach to be abandoned as this would have lowered the level of consumer protection in the UK.

"However the devil is in the detail and we will continue to lobby the EU institutions to ensure that the final outcome is in the best interests of consumers."