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Class actions have a long tradition in the United States (US). Contrastingly, most European jurisdictions used to vigorously reject the adoption of "US-style" class action instruments. This is about to change in the field of consumer laws. The U-turn came in 2020, when the EU adopted a directive on representative actions for the protection of collective interests of consumers (the "Directive"). The Directive seeks to ensure that an EU-wide "effective and efficient procedural mechanism for representative [i.e., collective] actions for injunctive measures and for redress measures is available to consumers […]".
To achieve that goal, the Directive gives "Qualified Entities" ("QEs") (e.g., a non-profit organisation protecting the interests of consumers) the right to request "injunctive" and/or "redress" measures for breaches of consumer laws. Injunctive measures include provisional and final orders to cease a breach of consumer laws and may be granted without any actual loss being sustained by consumers. Redress measures encompass a variety of remedies such as compensation, price reduction or contract termination. QEs may issue local and cross-border representative actions in other Member States. QEs from different Member States may also join forces and sue a defendant in one specific domestic court.
The new collective action regime shall apply to claims based on breaches of consumer laws that occurred on or after 25 June 2023. EU Member States are in the process of transposing the Directive into national law. In many CEE jurisdictions, the possibility to request compensation in a collective action will be new and materially change the litigation landscape. For companies engaged in B2C business, the new collective action regime will increase the prospects of high value claims filed by consumers. This will require firm litigation management to fend off and mitigate the risks flowing from the new collective action regime. A prudent litigation management starts with monitoring laws. The map below provides an overview as to how CEE States intend to implement the Directive. This is a key aspect of monitoring because EU States enjoy a considerable margin of discretion in implementing the Directive.
Click through our map to learn more about the status of each country:
information as of: 15 October 2024
If you do have any questions about how to legally prepare for the new collective action, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Peter
Konwitschka
Partner
austria vienna
Christoph
Lindinger
Partner
austria vienna
Sebastian
Lukic
Attorney at Law
austria vienna
Michael
Magerl
Office Managing Partner
austria linz
Miruna
Mustata
Associate
austria vienna
Andreas
Natterer
Partner
austria vienna
Marguerita
Sedrati-Müller
Counsel
austria vienna
Manuela
Zimmermann
Partner
austria vienna
Dimitar
Vlaevsky
Attorney at Law
bulgaria
Vice
Mandarić*
Partner | Mandarić & Einwalter in coop. with Schoenherr
croatia
Ondřej
Havlíček
Partner
czech republic
Natálie
Rosová
Attorney at Law
czech republic
Kristýna
Zmatlíková
Attorney at Law
czech republic
Hanna
Kosińska
Attorney at Law
poland
Marcel
Mămăligă
Senior Attorney at Law
romania
Valeria
Stropșa
Senior Attorney at Law
romania
Ján
Farbiak
Attorney at Law
slovakia
Bojan
Brežan
Partner in cooperation with Schoenherr
slovenia
Marko
Frantar
Partner in cooperation with Schoenherr
slovenia
Maks David
Osojnik
Attorney at Law
slovenia