site.btaParliament Adopts at First Reading Amendments to Consumer Protection Act to Transpose EU Directive

Parliament on Friday adopted at first reading amendments to the Consumer Protection Act. The bill, submitted by the Council of Ministers, was supported by 124 votes in favour, two against and 45 abstentions.

The amendments introduce the requirements of a European directive concerning representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers. They also establish the conditions for the implementation of a European regulation on the general product safety, as well as regulate market surveillance for general product safety in accordance with the European regulation.

Deputy Economy Minister Doncho Barbalov explained that the directive on representative consumer actions should have been transposed into Bulgarian legislation by the end of 2022. Unfortunately, he noted, Bulgaria is late, and an infringement procedure has already been

The bill significantly expands the scope of representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers. New areas are included, such as data protection, financial services, travel and tourism, energy, telecommunications, passenger rights, the provision of services, general product safety, and others.

The range of qualified organizations enabled to bring representative actions for legal remedies is also expanded. Such actions may now be brought not only by consumer associations, as has been the case so far, but also by the Consumer Protection Commission (CPC) and qualified organizations designated by EU member states to file cross-border representative actions.