EU parliament adopts amended consumer rights rules

Small and midsized businesses can breathe a sigh of relief: members of the European parliament (MEPs), the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection and the Council of the European Union have, on 16th June, agreed on amendments to the EU Consumer Rights Directive. The Council quashed proposals requiring traders to refund the return cost of goods priced at €40 or more from anywhere in the EU. It is also understood that controversial plans to force retailers to sell into every EU country have been dropped, provided that merchants specify early in the transaction process which countries they ship to, and explain why they don’t serve others.  

Direct commerce trade body the Catalogue Exchange (CatEx) welcomed the EU’s decision to abandon plans to force retailers to sell into all countries within the EU and offer free returns. Tim Curtis, CatEx deputy chairman and managing director, Northern Europe, at apparel cataloguer Lands’ End, says, “This is great news. A number of the proposed amendments would actually have reduced consumer choice and cross-border trade, and we are relieved that commercial realism appears to have prevailed.”

The European Parliament is expected to vote in the plenary on 23rd June 2011. Member states will have to implement the new rules within a period of two years, at the latest, after the directive comes into force.