COLLECTIVE REDRESS MECHANISMS IN CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND SOUTH EAST EUROPE -COMPARATIVE STUDY - COLLECTIVE REDRESS MECHANISMS IN CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND SOUTH EAST EUROPE - COMPARATIVE STUDY - Imprint Published by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Registered offices Bonn and Eschborn, Germany ‘Open Regional Fund for South East Europe-Legal Reform’ Antonie Grubisic 5, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia Phone +389 2 3216 044 Fax +389 2 3216 046 Editor Dr. Veronika Efremova Authors Duncan Fairgrieve Eva Lein Rhonson Salim Olivier Vanhulst Vincent Smith Mahdis Moeiri-Farsi Constance Bonzé Ianika Tzankova Eric Tjong Tjin Tai Karlijn van Doorn Charles Dybus Laura Ervo Annina H. Persson Ersida Teliti Flutura Kola Tafaj Meliha Povlakić Zlatan Meškić Enis Selimi Jadranka Dabović Anastasovska Marijana Lončar Velkova Vladimir Savković Nikola Dožić Radovan Vukadinović Milena Jovanović Zattila Veronika Efremova Design and printing Print house Evropa 92 Dooel Skopje Circulation 100 copies The content of this Book reflects personal opinion, experience and viewpoints of the authors and it does not correlate to the standpoint and the editing policy of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the Editor, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. On behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) CIP - Каталогизација во публикација Национална и универзитетска библиотека “Св. Климент Охридски”, Скопје 366.5(4-12:4-672.ЕУ) COLLECTIVE redress mechanisms in consumer protection in the European union and South East Europe : comparative study / [authors Duncan Fairgrieve ... [и др.] ; editor Veronika Efremova]. - Skopje : GIZ, 2018. - 432 стр. : илустр. ; 30 см Фусноти кон текстот. - Библиографија кон трудовите ISBN 978-608-4536-20-8 а) Потрошувачи - Заштита - Европска унија б) Потрошувачи - Заштита -Југоисточна Европа COBISS.MK-ID 106874890 COLLECTIVE REDRESS MECHANISMS IN CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND SOUTH EAST EUROPE - COMPARATIVE STUDY - SKOPJE, MARCH 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 17 PART ONE - COLLECTIVE REDRESS MECHANISMS IN THE EU: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SELECTED EUROPEAN MEMBER STATES 20 Introduction 22 Scope of the Report 22 Methodology 22 1. EU Approach to Collective Redress 23 Green Paper on Consumer Collective Redress 2008 23 Directive on Injunctions 24 ADR Directive 24 Further Consultations 24 Commission Recommendation 25 Commission Communication 26 Antitrust Damages Directive 26 2. Approach of EU Member States to Collective Redress 27 Belgium 27 England&Wales 33 France 43 Germany 51 The Netherlands 61 Sweden 73 3. Concluding comments 84 4. Bibliography 85 PART TWO - COLLECTIVE REDRESS IN CONSUMER PROTECTION IN SOUTH EAST EUROPE: COUNTRY REPORTS 89 Collective redress in consumer protection in Albania 90 Executive summary 91 1. National compliance with the relevant EU acquis 93 1.1 Directive 2009/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on injunctions for the protection of consumers’ interests 94 1.2 Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes 95 Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union 96 1.4 Commission Recommendation of 11 June 2013 on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms in the Member States concerning violations of rights granted under European Union Law 97 2. Legal framework for collective redress 98 2.1 General description 98 2.2 Applicable areas for collective redress 99 2.3 Applicable procedure(s) for collective redress according to the national legislation 99 2.4 Available remedies for collective redress according to the national legislation 105 2.5 Costs and financing of the procedure for collective redress with an overview of pros and cons consumer organizations to initiate the procedure 108 2.6 Sectoral collective redress mechanisms 109 a. The Law on the rights of the patient 109 b. Food safety 111 c. Safety of products 112 2.7 Legislative consultations and reform proposals 114 a. Legislative proposals 114 3. Institutional framework for collective redress 115 3.1 Overview of legal provisions determining stakeholders in implementing collective redress 115 3.2 Stakeholders responsible for putting collective redress into practice 116 3.3 Mapping the cooperation among stakeholders 116 4. The role of courts, inspection bodies, regulatory bodies, ombudsman and others in collective redress 122 4.1 The role and competences 122 4.2 Case law and best practices in collective redress 125 5. The role of consumer organizations in collective redress 128 5.1 Legal precondition for consumer organisations’ activities to represent consumer rights in collective redress 128 5.2 Assessment of the environment for consumer organisations to deal with collective redress 128 5.3 Prerequisites for awareness raising toward consumers in collective redress 130 6. Recommendations and conclusions 131 7. Bibliography 135 Collective redress in consumer protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina 139 Executive summary 140 1. National compliance with the relevant EU acquis 145 1.1 Directive 2009/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on injunctions for the protection of consumers’ interests 145 1.2 Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes 147 1.3 Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing action for damages under national law for infringement of the competition law provisions of the Member States 148 1.4 Commission Recommendation 2013/396/EU of 11 June 2013 on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms in the Member States concerning violation of rights granted under Union Law 149 2. Legal framework for collective redress 152 2.1 General description 152 2.2 Applicable areas for collective redress 154 2.3 Applicable procedure(s) for collective redress according to the national legislation 155 2.4 Available remedies for collective redress according to the national legislation 157 2.5 Costs and financing of the procedure for collective redress with an overview of pros and cons consumer organizations to initiate the procedure 159 2.6 Sectoral collective redress mechanisms 161 a. Consumer law 161 b. Competition law 165 c. Capital market law 167 d. Patients’ rights 172 e. Food safety 175 f. Product safety 176 g. Environmental protection law 179 h. Other areas 182 h.a. Antidiscrimination law 182 h.b. Combating late payment in commercial transactions 185 2.7 Legislative consultations and reform proposals 185 a. Legislative proposals 185 3. Institutional framework for collective redress 185 3.1 Overview of legal provisions determining stakeholders in implementing collective redress 185 3.2 Stakeholders responsible for putting collective redress into practice 187 3.3 Mapping the cooperation among stakeholders 190 4. The role of courts, inspection bodies, regulatory bodies, ombudsman and others in collective redress 190 4.1 The role and competences 190 4.2 Case law and best practices in collective redress 194 5. The role of consumer organizations in collective redress 196 5.1 Legal precondition for consumer organisations’ activities to represent consumer rights in collective redress 196 5.2 Assessment of the environment for consumer organisations to deal with collective redress 199 5.3 Prerequisites for awareness raising toward consumers in collective redress 202 6. Recommendations and conclusions 203 7. Bibliography 209 Collective redress in consumer protection in Kosovo 213 Executive summary 214 1. National compliance with the relevant EU acquis 215 1.1 Directive 2009/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on injunctions for the protection of consumers’ interests 215 1.2 Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes 216 1.3 Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 on certain rules governing action for damages under national law for infringement of the competition law provisions of the Member States 216 1.4 Commission Recommendation 2013/396/EU of 11 June 2013 on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms in the Member States concerning violation of rights granted under Union Law 217 2. Legal framework for collective redress 218 2.1 General description 218 2.2 Applicable areas for collective redress 219 2.3 Applicable procedure(s) for collective redress according to the national legislation 220 2.4 Available remedies for collective redress according to the national legislation 221 2.5 Costs and financing of the procedure for collective redress with an overview of pros and cons consumer organizations to initiate the procedure 223 2.6 Sectoral collective redress