The EU will be setting up a new mechanism aimed at settling disputes between online shoppers and traders in just 30 days.
The proposals will help consumers to use easy, quick and inexpensive ways to sort out their problems
The new mechanism will be of great benefit to Maltese consumers, considered to be among the top cross-border online shoppers in the EU. It forms part of a set of consumer-friendly legislative proposals unveiled by Health and Consumer Affairs Commissioner John Dalli in Brussels
According to a recent Eurobarometer survey, while only 23 per cent of internet users in the EU made cross-border purchases in 2010, in Malta the average rises to 90 per cent, with only the minority using the new virtual online shopping tool to make purchases from local traders.
Yet, so far it is still very difficult for Maltese shoppers to resolve problems with traders abroad and the Commission’s proposal is aimed to make their life easier.
According to the proposed mechanism, the Commission will be launching an EU-wide online platform providing consumers and businesses with a single point of entry for resolving online disputes over purchases made online in another EU country.
This single point of entry will automatically send the consumer’s complaint to the competent national consumer protection entity and will facilitate the resolution of a dispute within a maximum of 30 days.
“Once adopted, the proposals will help European consumers to use easy, quick and inexpensive ways to sort out their problems, wherever and however they purchase a product or service in the EU”, Mr Dalli said.
Apart from protecting online consumers, the Commission is also planning new rules on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in order to strengthen the mechanism to have out-of-court settlements between consumers and traders in many EU states.
The Commission would like the ADR directive to ensure that quality out-of-court entities exist to deal with any contractual dispute between a consumer and a business and not apply to just certain sectors, as things stand today in certain member states.
Under the proposal, ADR entities will also have to meet certain quality criteria in the delivery of their services; businesses will be obliged to inform customers about the ADR entity that can deal with a potential contractual dispute and ADR entities will be bound to resolve the disputes within the stipulated timeframe.
Malta is already in conformity with many of the new proposed provisions because it has one of the most modern consumer protection legislations in the EU.
Still, the Maltese authorities will now have to ensure that the services given to Maltese shoppers by consumer-protection entities is according to the high quality benchmarks expected by the EU.
The new proposals will have to be agreed upon by member states and MEPs before coming into force. The debate at the European Parliament will be piloted by Maltese MEP Louis Grech who was assigned to handle this dossier.