2820th meeting of the COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION COMPETITIVENESS (Internal Market, Industry and Research)

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  1. Tekst
  2. Originele weergave
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1.

Tekst

Information from the Presidency (Other business item)

In view of the Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry and Research) Council meeting

on 27-28 September 2007, Delegations will find in the annex a note from the Presidency on the

above-mentioned subject.

ANNEX

NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENCY

State of play

on

the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection

of consumers in respect of certain aspects of timeshare, long-term holiday products, resale

and exchange

I. INTRODUCTION

On 8 June 2007, the Commission submitted the Proposal for a Directive of the European

Parliament and of the Council on the protection of consumers in respect of certain aspects of

timeshare, long-term holiday products, resale and exchange (herein after "Timeshare

12 Directive") accompanied by an impact assessment. The proposal, based on Article 95 of the Treaty, took into account the Council Conclusions of 13 April 2000 on the implementation of

Directive 94/47/EC as well as the European Parliament's Resolution of 4 July 2002

recommending that the Commission takes action to resolve the problems of consumers of

timeshare products, while guaranteeing them the highest level of protection.

In July the European Parliament (EP) appointed Mr. Toine Manders (ALDE/NL) as the

Rapporteur for this proposal.

II. WORK CONDUCTED WITHIN THE COUNCIL

On 28 June 2007, the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee.

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10686/07 [ref. 2007/0113(COD)]. 2

10686/07 ADD1 REV 1 and ADD2.

So far, the Presidency has organized three meetings of the Working Party on Consumer

Protection and Information (10 July, 20 July and 10-11 September 2007). The Commission

made a presentation of the proposal, including the impact assessment. Despite the fact that the

"Timeshare Directive" (94/47/EC) is part of the comprehensive review of the Consumer

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Acquis comprising 8 directives, the revision of Directive 94/47/EC has become a priority given the urgency of the problems faced by consumers, in particular in relation to resale and

the new products. The proposal aims at vertical revision of the Directive involving essentially

a modification of the definitions and its scope in order to cover new holiday products as well

as clarify and update the provisions on requirements for the content and language of the

consumer information and the contract.

The discussion in the Working Party showed a general support of Member States for the

Commission's proposal, namely for enlarging its scope to cover also long-term holiday

products, resale and exchange of timeshare as well as a broader definition of "timeshare" that

would no longer be linked only to immovable property and would cover contracts for

accommodation in canal boats, caravans and cruise-ships. However, many Member States

pointed out that the relationship between the proposal and the Review of the Consumer

Acquis as well as the possible horizontal instrument had to be clear.

A good progress has been made at the Working Party level, but there are still the following main

issues that will require future discussion:

· Level of harmonisation for the rules governing the right of withdrawal (relationship to the

horizontal instrument).

· Definitions (Article 2).

· Language regime for the provision of pre-contractual and contractual information (related

to Articles 3 and 4).

· Application of the right of withdrawal (Article 5).

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Green paper on the review of the consumer acquis (doc. 6307/07, COM(2006)744 final).

· Harmonisation of Article 8(2) of the proposal and the draft Rome I. Regulation on the law

applicable to contractual obligations.

· Relationship of the proposal (in particular its Article 9(2)) to the Directive on injunctions

for the protection of consumers´ interests (98/27/EC).

III. FURTHER STEPS

The Presidency will continue the discussion at the Working Party level in order to resolve the

outstanding issues and have an agreed Council's position that would serve as a basis for future

discussions with the European Parliament. In the meantime, the Presidency intends to have

informal talks with the European Parliament to explore the possibility for a first reading

agreement on this proposal. According to the latest information, the European Parliament

plans to adopt its first reading opinion at the Plenary session in April 2008.

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2.

Originele weergave

afbeelding document
 
 

3.

Meer informatie