Subject files - Representative Actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers - Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

On 11.04.2018, the EC adopted the New Deal for Consumers. The proposal on “Representative actions for the protections of the collective interests of consumers” was presented together with the one on targeted amendments to four EU consumer law Directives and aims to replace Directive 2009/22/EC of the EP and of the Council of 23.04.2009 on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests (the Injunctions Directive) by introducing new provisions on such representative actions by consumers.

This should be a tool for stopping illegal practices and facilitating redress for consumers where many of them are victims of the same infringement of their rights, in a mass harm situation.

This proposal follows the 2016-2017 Fitness Check which confirmed the importance of Directive 2009/22/EC but also revealed the shortcomings, including the limited scope, the limited effects of injunction decisions on redress for harmed consumers and the cost and length of the procedure.

The IMCO Committee is associated in this file with JURI Committee under RoP 54 and adopted its Opinion on 22 of November 2018. The JURI Report was adopted on 6 December, following in certain issues the IMCO Opinion, and the JURI Members also endorsed the mandate for the EP team to engage into interinstitutional negotiations. The Parliament voted on its first-reading position during the March II plenary session.