Europaudvalget 2017-18
EUU Alm.del Bilag 29
Offentligt
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Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers
European Commission
1049 Bruxelles
Belgium
MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY,
BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL
AFFAIRS
6 October 2017
MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY,
The Danish Government response to the public consultation on the
targeted revision of EU Consumer law directives
The Danish Government is grateful for the opportunity to reply to the
consultation regarding the targeted revision of the EU Consumer law di-
rectives. The Danish Government finds the
Commission’s fitness check
of the consumer and marketing legislation highly relevant and important
and supports the Commission’s efforts
in this area.
The Danish Government would like to supplement the issued question-
naire with this substantive response.
Behavioural insights and targeted information disclosure
In May 2017 the Commission completed the fitness check of the consum-
er and marketing legislation and the evaluation of the Consumer Rights
Directive. In general, the Commission concluded that the general con-
sumer law remains fit for purpose, and when applied effectively, the ex-
isting rules tackle the problems that European consumers are facing to-
day. However, findings also point to the need to improve awareness, en-
forcement and the rules of redress opportunities to make the best of the
existing legislation.
Based on these evaluations the Commission is currently assessing the
need for possible changes in the legislation, and the Commission is un-
dertaking the current targeted revision of EU Consumer law directives
based on the conclusion of the fitness check.
However, the Danish Government does not fully agree with the conclu-
sion on the fitness check nor the underlying premise for the issued ques-
tionnaire.
The Fitness Check was an important exercise, because active consumers
are an important part of the Single Market, as active consumers make
demands on businesses which give them incentives to provide better ser-
vice. This can lead to an improvement in competition and create well-
functioning markets.
BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL
AFFAIRS
Slotsholmsgade 10-12
DK-1216 Copenhagen K
Tlf.
Fax
+45 33 92 33 50
+45 33 12 37 78
CVR-nr. 10 09 24 85
EAN nr. 5798000026001
[email protected]
www.em.dk
EUU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 29: Notat og dansk høringssvar vedr. Kommissionens høring om en målrettet revision af EU’s direktiver om forbrugerret
It is therefore the hope of the Danish Government that the follow-up on
the Fitness Check in the end will make it easier for consumers and busi-
nesses to navigate within the area of the directives that are subject to the
Fitness Check.
‘Behavioural
insights’ refers to the range of behavioural science research
into how biases influence consumer decision making. The term has
gained prominence as a result of the wealth of research calling into ques-
tion the traditional assumption that consumers and citizens act like ra-
tional agents in the marketplace. Behavioural insights are an obvious
means to ensuring that regulation aligns with actual consumer behaviour
to the benefit of both consumers and businesses.
The gap between the intended consumer protection of information disclo-
sure requirements and the observed consumer behaviour especially calls
for the consideration of insights from behavioural sciences.
The Danish Government would therefore like to emphasize the im-
portance of continuing the implementation of behavioural insights in the
development of EU consumer and marketing law, for instance by striving
to shift from full information disclosure to better targeted information
disclosure based on evidence, impact assessments and behavioural in-
sights.
The Danish Government is of the opinion that neither the Fitness Check
nor the consultation on the EU consumer legislation thoroughly take
these considerations into account.
The Danish Government has enclosed a non-paper regarding the imple-
mentation of behavioural insights in the development of EU consumer
and marketing law. The non-paper was also circulated by the Danish
Government at the Competitiveness Council meeting on May 29 2017.
Clearer consumer rules for the digital economy
One of the targeted areas covered by the consultation is clearer rules
for the digital economy.
The Danish Government is of the impression that consumers increas-
ingly rely on online platforms in their decision-making process. How-
ever, particularly when the online platform facilitates communication
and contractual transactions between other market players, the applica-
tion of EU consumer law is sometimes unclear. This is particularly the
case when considering whether platforms should be measured accord-
ing to the standards of the Unfair Commercial Practice Directive.
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EUU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 29: Notat og dansk høringssvar vedr. Kommissionens høring om en målrettet revision af EU’s direktiver om forbrugerret
Even more pressing are the standard of correctness and validity of in-
formation provided to the consumer and under which circumstances
platform operators, particularly those who have a certain control over
the transactions, should be held liable for the (non-) performance un-
der supplier-consumer contracts. There seems to be a strong need to
update EU consumer law in this regard.
In general the Danish Government finds that there is a need for a Digi-
tal Single Market that is open to competition, innovation and new
business models.
The Digital Single Market should have efficient rules for all business-
es in the digital economy. Regulation should be future-proof and not
impose new unnecessary burdens on businesses or create barriers to
entry that stifle competition and innovation. We should focus on regu-
lating actions that are harmful to society, consumers or competition
irrespective of whether these actions are taken by online platforms or
other types of businesses.
Furthermore, high quality impact assessments should be made and
alternatives to regulation should be properly considered. For instance,
cooperation with consumer organizations to enhance consumer aware-
ness rather than imposing new regulatory requirements could be con-
sidered.
Free online services
Regarding free online services the Danish Government is not in a posi-
tion to comment on whether the Consumer Rights Directive should be
extended to contracts for online services for which the consumer pro-
vides data and does not pay with money.
It should, however, be noted that a general approach on the proposal
for a directive on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of
digital content was reached by the JHA Council on the meeting of 8-9
June 2017. According to the general approach, which Denmark sup-
ports, the directive should apply when the consumer pays, or under-
takes to pay a price or to provide personal data to the supplier.
Better enforcement and redress opportunities for consumers
The consumer's right to remedies/redress for harm caused by unfair
commercial practices are not always sufficiently guaranteed under
national law. Different and ineffective national rules on reme-
dies/redress may lead to costs for traders engaging in cross-border
trade and detriment for consumers resulting from continued existence
of many breaches on national and cross-border level.
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EUU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 29: Notat og dansk høringssvar vedr. Kommissionens høring om en målrettet revision af EU’s direktiver om forbrugerret
The mystery shopping exercise on the Unfair Commercial Practices
Directive conducted in the context of the Fitness Check study on con-
sumer markets reveals to a large extent the difficulties that consumers
encounter, when it comes to seeking redress as a result of an unfair
practice. It is indicative that 62% of the mystery shoppers evaluated
the traders as unwilling to offer a remedy. The evidence
of traders’
reactions to complaints is compelling. 48% of traders totally ignored
the consumers reaching out to them for redress due to an unfair prac-
tice, while only 2% of the traders recognised the unfair practice from
their side. Eventually, 16% of the traders offered a remedy, as opposed
to 32% that did not offer any remedy whatsoever, while there were
instances where the trader ceased communication (Consumer Market
Study to support the Fitness Check of EU consumer and marketing
law, DS-02-17-419-EN-N, at 246-252).
The Danish Government supports alignment of sanctions and im-
provement of redress and therefore also supports the new CPC-
Regulation.
Penalties for breaches of consumer rules
Regarding penalties for the breaches of consumer rules it is not possi-
ble for the Danish Government on the present basis to determine
whether possible differences in the investigation and sentencing of
breaches of EU consumer protection rules result in consequences for
the enforcement of these rules.
However the Danish Government would like to draw the Commis-
sion’s attention
to the response given by the Danish Forbrugerom-
budsmand, who has independently answered the questionnaire.
Doorstep selling
The Danish Government is not in a position to comment on whether
the Member States should be allowed to introduce a general ban on
doorstep selling, or whether national restrictions on doorstep selling
makes cross-border trade difficult.
It should, however, be noted, that since 1978 the Danish Consumer
Contracts Act has imposed a general prohibition on doorstep selling in
business-to-consumer
commercial practices: Without the consumer’s
prior request, a trader is not allowed to approach the consumer at any
location to which there is no general public access, e.g. the
consumer’s
home or workplace, with the view to obtain an offer or acceptance of
an offer to conclude a contract.
Few exceptions are made to the general prohibition. Traders are al-
lowed to contact consumers by telephone with regard to the ordering
of books, subscriptions for newspapers and magazines, brokering of
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EUU, Alm.del - 2017-18 - Bilag 29: Notat og dansk høringssvar vedr. Kommissionens høring om en målrettet revision af EU’s direktiver om forbrugerret
insurance, and subscription for emergency services and medical
transport. The listed exceptions are justified by the interest in securing
a certain information level in society and because it is presumed that
the purchase of these products and services benefits society.
Simplification of the rules on the right to withdrawal
As addressed by the Commission in its evaluation of the Consumer
Rights Directive, the Danish Chamber of Commerce has stressed the
practical challenges related to the right to return used goods according
to article 14(2) in the Consumer Rights Directive. Among other things
the Danish Chamber of Commerce argues that it is difficult for the
traders to resell the returned used goods and that there is uncertainty
about the calculation of the diminished value of the goods. Based on a
survey conducted among their members, the Danish Chamber of
Commerce has additionally stated that the practical difficulties result
in a tendency for the trader to refund the full amount for the returned
used good to the consumer.
The Danish Government thanks the Commission for addressing the
issue and the fact that if consumers at a large scale exercise the right to
withdrawal after having used a good more than they would in a shop,
this may distort the balance between consumer protection and com-
petiveness of enterprises. In continuance hereof the Danish Chamber
of Commerce has agreed to provide further data that can illustrate the
extent of the burden on the traders.
With regard to the trader’s obligation to reimburse the consumer as
soon as the consumer has supplied evidence of having sent the goods
back, stakeholders, e.g. the Danish Chamber of Commerce, have ex-
pressed that this obligation entails challenges for the traders, as it does
not allow sufficient time for the trader to inspect the returned good
before reimbursing. More study should be conducted at the EU-level
in this area to shed light on the extent and nature of the effects of the
implementation of article 14 (2).
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