Legislation

EU regulations are transnational legislation that apply generally and as they stand in all Member States without having been amended to become national law.

Directives, on the other hand, are intended for legislators in the Member States that must translate them into their national legislation within a defined time frame. In their relations with traders, consumers cannot rely directly on directives but on the national legislation that implements them. Directives guarantee a minimum level of consumer protection binding on all Member States in different areas, but the Member States often have some leeway in national implementation and the scope to introduce tighter regulation than with a directive, as long as it is not in breach of the EU founding treaty.      It is therefore evident that the directives mentioned below provide a minimum level of consumer protection in Europe, although the law might still vary slightly for each country.

ADR and ODR legislation

Directive 2013/11/EU on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC

Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC

Distance selling

Directive on Consumer Rights (2011/83/EU)

Electronic Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC)

Directive 2002/65/EC concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial services

Payment in euros

Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 on cross-border payments in euro

Indication of prices

Directive 98/6/EC  on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers

Door-to-door sales

Directive to protect the consumer in respect of contracts negotiated away from business premises (85/577/EEC)

Unfair terms in contracts

Directive 93/13/EEC on unfair terms in consumer contracts

Consumer credits

Directive 98/7/EC amending Directive 87/102/EEC

Council Directive 87/102/EEC for the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning consumer credit

Conflict-of-law rules

Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I)

Advertising

Directive 2006/114/EC concerning misleading and comparative advertising

Payment services

Directive 2007/64/EC on payment services in the internal market

Travel

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights

Regulation (EU) No 2021/782 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations

EU Regulation concerning the rights of passengers in waterway transport (1177/2010) 

EU Regulation concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport (181/2011) 

Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements, amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 90/314/EEC

Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and linked travel arrangements

Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (the Montreal Convention)

Regulation (EC) No 861/2007 establishing a European Small Claims Procedure

Regulation (EC) No 1896/2006 creating a European order for payment procedure

Services

Directive 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market

Cross-border payments

Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 on cross-border payments in the Community

Unfair commercial practice

Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market

Sale of goods and guarantees  

Directive 1999/44/EC 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees

Directive (EU) 2019/770 on certain aspects concerning certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services

Directive (EU) 2019/771 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods

Timeshare

Directive 2008/122/EC on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday product, resale and exchange contracts

Jurisdiction

Regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (recast)

Liability for defective products

Directive 1999/34/EC amending Directive 85/374/EEC

Council Directive 85/374/EEC for the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning consumer credit