Press Release: Consumers: Commission puts forward proposals for faster, easier and cheaper solutions to disputes with traders

In 2010, one in five European consumers encountered problems when buying goods and services in the single market.

If a seller refuses to repair your laptop which broke down when under guarantee or if you cannot come to agreement with a travel agent over a refund for a ruined holiday, there are ways to sort it out without going to court. But, unfortunately, at this stage, out-of-court dispute resolution in the EU is possible only for some business sectors or in some areas.

To tackle this issue, the European Commission have unveiled a package of legislative proposals to ensure that all EU consumers can solve their problems without going to court, regardless of the kind of product or service that the contractual dispute is about and regardless of where they bought it in the European single market (that is, at home or abroad).

For consumers shopping online from another EU country, the Commission wants to create an EU-wide single online platform, which will allow to solve contractual disputes entirely online within 30 days.

European Commission: Memo/11/840: Alternative Dispute Resolution and Online Dispute Resolution for EU consumers: Questions and Answers http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/11/840&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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