"I have completely changed the original Commission proposal," said German MEP Andreas Schwab (European People's Party), as colleagues discussed his draft report on the first three chapters of the draft directive, which was originally proposed by the Commission in 2008.
His changes come after member states and consumer organisations voiced fears that proposed full harmonisation of consumer rights across the 27-member bloc could result in a levelling-down in some countries (EurActiv 16/04/10).
Schwab cautioned that maximum harmonisation of consumer rights in all areas and for all types of contract "is simply not possible at this point in time". He said he had thus changed both the structure and concept of the draft directive to apply the concept of "targeted full harmonisation" to areas where he thinks harmonisation is possible and useful. Others were left to minimum harmonisation.
Business organisations had earlier backed full harmonisation and opposed revisions that provide a mix between full and minimum harmonisation of rights.
They argue that such a regime would neither improve legal certainty nor end legal fragmentation, which are both stated objectives of the revision.
Member states split
According to the Spanish EU Presidency, member states, which discussed the dossier on 25 May in the Competitiveness Council, expressed a preference for mixed and "flexible harmonisation" accompanied by basic rights, such as the information that consumers must receive before signing a contract, or a product return guarantee for 14 days after making online, phone or catalogue purchases.
Justice and Fundamental Rights Commissioner Viviane Reding also told a forum on Wednesday (2 June) that "it makes sense" to harmonise pre-contractual information and the 14-day cooling-off period for online sales, whereas member states should keep their national rules for face-to-face contracts.
Meanwhile, sources said that member states are split on the issue, with a majority in favour of full targeted harmonisation but with a varying scale according to the type of contract.
Commissioner Reding said if there was no agreement on the dossier at first reading, she would consider tabelling a new text.
Guillaume Delvallée, a French representative on the Council working group on consumer rights, said the group had already held 41 meetings on the dossier and described the situation as "extremely painful", arguing that it would not be easy to continue work based on the current text.
The Spanish Presidency will present a consensus text to the working group on the directive, which is expected to be adopted during the Belgian Presidency in the second half of 2010.
28th regime for contracts
Both the Commission and stakeholders have also floated the possibility of a '28th regime for contracts', which they suggested could exist in parallel with national contract law and offer standard terms and conditions.
28th regimes are legal frameworks of EU rules which do not replace national rules, but can be used as an optional alternative.
However, Patrice Pellegrino, senior adviser at Eurocommerce, argued that having such an additional regime would represent "a shift in political understanding of Europe" and would pose a problem by suggesting that "there is no trust anymore between member states".
