New Deal for Consumers
The “New Deal for Consumers” initiative aimed at strengthening enforcement of EU consumer law in light of a growing risk of EU-wide infringements and at modernising EU consumer protection rules in view of market developments. The Commission adopted it on 11 April 2018.
The initiative was composed of two proposals for Directives and a Communication.
- COM(2018) 183: Communication on the New Deal for Consumers.
- COM(2018) 184: A proposal on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and repealing the Injunctions Directive 2009/22/EC ('Representative Actions Proposal').
- COM(2018) 185: A proposal to amend Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts, Directive 98/6/EC on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers, Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices and Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights ('Proposal on better enforcement and modernisation).
Following these proposals, the Directive on better enforcement and modernisation of EU consumer protectionwas adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on 27 November 2019.
Information about this new Directive is in the Factsheet - New Deal: What benefits will I get as a consumer?.
The Directive on Representative Actions was adopted on 25 November 2020.
- The European Parliament took its position on 26 March 2019 in first reading.
- The Council has agreed on a general approach on 28 November 2019.
- The two co-legislators reached a provisional political agreement on the proposal on 22 June 2020, to be formally endorsed by both institutions.
- The Council adopted its position at first reading on 4 November 2020 (Statement of Reasons).
- The Commission issued a Communication on the Council position on 5 November 2020.
- The European Parliament adopted its position at 2nd reading on 24 November 2020.
The Member States will have until 25 December 2022 to transpose the Directive into their national legal orders and until 25 June 2023 to apply national provisions transposing the Directive.
Directives covered by the New Deal for Consumers legislative proposals
Unfair commercial practices directive
Unfair contract terms directive
Impact assessment and evaluation (Fitness Check)
The legislative proposals of the New Deal package were based on an Impact Assessment comprising a public consulation:
Public consultation on the targeted revision of EU consumer law directives
Impact assessment - New Deal for Consumers
Summary of the Impact Assessment - New Deal for Consumers
The adoption of the New Deal package follows a comprehensive evaluation of the EU consumer law directives, results of which were published on 29 May 2017.
This evaluation – the Fitness Check – assessed whether the current consumer and marketing law directives are still ‘fit for purpose’. A specific evaluation of the Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU was conducted in parallel.
Citizens' Dialogues on the New Deal for Consumers
It was a series of events in the Member States which explained what the EU was doing for consumers and listened to their views on how the EU could tackle their concerns.