Study on Consumer Law and the Information Society
| Autor | European Communities |
Study on Consumer Law and the Information Society
A petición de la Dirección General de Salud y Protección de los Consumidores de la Comisión Europea, la consultora PriceWaterhouseCoopers ha elaborado un estudio sobre `La legislación en materia de protección de los consumidores y la sociedad de la información´.
El estudio señala que la mayoría de las disposiciones comunitarias en materia de protección de los consumidores se adaptan a la sociedad de la información. Asimismo, existen algunas normativas que no responden este información y requieren algunos tipos de clarificaciones. Concretamente, ciertos términos o conceptos legislativos llevan a la confusión y, por otro lado, algunas Directivas horizontales en el ámbito de la sociedad de la información no tiene en cuenta, con claridad, el contenido de la normativa sobre consumidores.
Además de estos problemas, el estudio indica que: 1) la sociedad de la información es una ventaja para los consumidores; 2) las posibilidades que ofrece internet no tienen porque reducir el nivel de protección de los consumidores; y 3) la defensa de los intereses de los consumidores ha de quedar plenamente garantizada en Internet.
Finalmente, el estudio recomienda algunas medidas legislativas para resolver las imperfecciones técnicas y para modificar aquellas disposiciones que no se adapten a la sociedad de la información ( especialmente en lo referente a los pagos, la protección de los menores, la publicidad y autorregulación, entre otros.)
Fuente: © European Communities
Executive Summary
Background to the report
Driven by information and communication technologies ("ICT"), the dawning of the Information Society - most manifestly demonstrated by the boost of the Internet - will fundamentally change our society. Consumers will have a profound role in unfolding the Information Society, being one of the driving and catalysing elements therein. Simultaneously, however, enhanced possibilities to communicate and to do business give rise to legitimate concerns as regards the protection of consumers (e.g. in the areas of new marketing techniques, privacy, payment, access to infrastructure, services and content).
Closely monitoring the changes brought about, European institutions have taken a keen interest in safeguarding the level of consumer protection provided under the EU legal framework. In its Resolution of 14 May 19981 Parliament stressed that a high degree of consumer protection constitutes a fundamental right which should be guaranteed and that consumer rights in relation to the Information Society should be ensured and if necessary adapted to the requirements set out by the new environment. Furthermore, in its Resolution of 19 January 1999, the Council invited the Commission to examine existing consumer law in the Community in the light of the new conditions created by the Information Society, so as to identify any possible loopholes with respect to specific problems that may arise in this context. Accordingly, the Commission initiated a study in conformity with the resolution of the Council.
This document is the product of the work carried out under this study. It has been produced by a consortium of a private company and two Universities: Marc de Vries (project leader) from PricewaterhouseCoopers NV (The Hague - the Netherlands), Professor Corien Prins (with the co-operation of Simone van der Hof and Miriam van Dellen), from Tilburg University, Professors Jan Kabel and Ewoud Hondius and Madeleine de Cock Buning from Utrecht University. The text was completed on 10 July 2000.
Main conclusions
Generally speaking, most EU consumer law provisions looked into can be regarded as Information Society proof and are, to a large extent, commensurate with the new environment of the Information Society. However, there are certain provisions that do not fit this description, requiring clarification. Additionally, there are areas that have not been touched by the European legislator and that will need further consideration, in view of the dawning of the Information Society.
Some terms are unclear in the context of the Information Society. For instance terms such as: 'intelligible and plain language' and 'main characteristics' will need to be clarified in view of the Information Society. Furthermore, the technological developments sometimes create practical problems, where new applications allow for alternative methods of (possibly) fulfilling legal obligations (such as providing access to general terms and conditions via a website).The study team has come to the conclusion that most of these clarification issues are merely technical and do not seem to threaten consumer interests in the context of the Information Society.
Thus, large parts of the EU legal framework seems Information Society proof. This is largely accounted for by the recent horizontal and sweeping directives issued (distance selling and electronic commerce directive). The more 'classical' directives (such as the timeshare, package travel, unfair contract terms directives), contain some provisions that would require adaptation or at least clarification, but this is now catered for by these new directives.
However, in...
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