Information Requirements in the Consumer Rights Directive Proposal and in Other Directives

The information obligations of the proposed Consumer Rights Directive and Directives 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce, 2006/123/EC on services in the internal market, and 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices partly overlap without being identical. One information obligation that features in both the E-Commerce Directive and the Services Directive could be integrated into Article 5 of the proposed Consumer Rights Directive: Information concerning details enabling the trader to be contacted rapidly and communicated with directly and, as the case may be, by electronic means. The E-Commerce Directive and the Services Directive contain some information requirements specific to the objectives of these directives that are not necessary in the context of general consumer contract law. The Services Directive 2006/123/EC deals with a number of issues in a less comprehensive way than Article 5 of the proposed Consumer Rights Directive. It could be amended accordingly in order to avoid inconsistency. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC and the proposed Consumer Rights Directive would work hand in hand. They complement each other.