The French Association of Large Companies (AFEP) welcomes the European Commission’s publication of a proposal for a Directive aimed primarily at amending the 2013 Directive on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for consumer disputes, to adapt it to the digital age and encourage the use of these alternative dispute resolution tools, including in cross-border situations.
In particular, companies welcome the inclusion within its scope of companies not established on the territory of an EU Member State, but which nevertheless offer their products or services to consumers within the EU.
To improve this draft Directive, AFEP supports the following measures:
- Make the possibility for an ADR entity to bundle similar cases against one specific trader into one procedure conditional not only to the consumer concerned being informed and not objecting, but also on the professional concerned being informed and not objecting,
- Maintain the possibility for Member States to make the introduction of ADR procedure conditional on prior contact between the consumer and the trader concerned in order to settle the dispute directly,
- Guarantee sufficient time to the professional to respond to a request to initiate an ADR procedure by an ADR entity, i.e. a period of 30 working days.