Scheme aims to help shoppers get redress

Date: 02/03/2000

By Peter Chapman

CONSUMER Protection Commissioner David Byrne and the Portuguese presidency are joining forces to push ahead with plans for a new scheme to help consumers caught up in cross-border legal wrangles with foreign firms.

They hope the proposed system will give boost EU trade and e-commerce by allaying shoppers' concerns about buying goods in other member states or on the Web.

The proposals, set to be unveiled in May, will call on EU member states to set up a 'clearing house' to put consumers in touch with out-of-court 'alternative dispute resolution' (ADR) bodies in the country where the supplier of the goods is based. These groups provide a framework for firms to resolve problems long before costly legal proceedings are started.

"If, for example, you are a German consumer and you bought some books from a retailer in the UK over the Internet and the books were not delivered you could go to the German clearing house," explained a Bryne aide. "They would give you consumer information and help to fill in a complaints form for the UK body to handle."

The official said the system would be a natural progression from an initiative launched in 1998, when EU member states agreed to set up domestic networks of ADR bodies.

The need for an effective out-of-court dispute resolution system has been highlighted by the fierce debate still raging in the Union over moves to reform the international treaties which govern cross-border legal battles. Critics of the plan to allow shoppers who buy goods from foreign firms abroad or on the Web to take complaints to court in their home country claim this would stifle e-commerce, and argue shoppers would rarely exercise this right as the cost would almost certainly outweigh the value of the goods bought.

Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne and the Portuguese Presidency are joining forces to push ahead with plans for a new scheme to help consumers caught up in cross-border legal wrangles with foreign firms. They hope the proosed system will boost EU trade and e-commerce by allaying shoppers' concerns about buying goods in other Member States or on the Web.