Online retailers can already start preparing to redesign their online shop again.
By 13 December 2013, the Federal Government must implement a European Consumer Rights Directive that already came into force in December 2011. The Consumer Rights Directive, called "Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council", is intended in particular to simplify and standardise online trade within the European Union.
The Directive leads to an approximation of the individual legal regulations in the Member States of the European Union. The Directive provides for full harmonisation between the individual national regulations. This means that the national member states may no longer enact national regulations that deviate from the directive. The Directive merely allows Member States to provide for a higher level of consumer protection in various areas than that provided for in the Directive. The new Consumer Rights Directive and the accompanying uniform regulations throughout Europe are intended to enable borderless trade within the European Union.
The Federal Ministry of Justice has now presented a draft bill to implement the Consumer Rights Directive. The draft not only reorganises distance selling law, but also regulates so-called "doorstep selling". Through the implementation of the Consumer Rights Directive, a new right of withdrawal will also come into force for the second time.
Online traders will have to revise their online shops again due to the implementation of the Consumer Rights Directive. The draft bill of the Federal Ministry of Justice itself states that the implementation of the directive will result in a compliance expense of 7.6 million euros for the business community.
The Civil Law Committee of the German Bar Association (DeutscherAnwaltsVerein) has also already submitted a statement on the draft bill of the Federal Ministry of Justice on the "Implementation of the Consumer Rights Directive, on the Amendment of the Law on the Sale of Consumer Goods and on the Amendment of the Law on the Regulation of Residential Mediation".
A decision on how the European Consumer Rights Directive will ultimately be transposed into German national law has not yet been made. We will therefore continue to monitor further developments and the implementation attempts of the Federal Ministry of Justice and keep you informed.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions on this topic.
Goldberg Attorneys at Law 2012
Michael Ullrich, LL. M. (Information Law)
Lawyer and
Specialist lawyer for information technology law (IT law)
