EU COLLECTIVE REDRESS ON THE RISE

Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners
Athens, Greece

Dimitris Emvalomenos, Lawyer, LL.M., Accredited Mediator of the Greek Ministry of Justice & the Centre of Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), London, UK, Dep. Managing Partner of Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners (BGP), is the author of the paper “EU COLLECTIVE REDRESS ON THE RISE”.

The paper was firstly published in Greek Law Digest, the most systematic and comprehensive guide on the Greek legal and institutional framework, written entirely in English, and in Sinigoros Magazine (in Greek, ΣΥΝήΓΟΡΟΣ) (issue 149/2022), a unique bimonthly publication focusing on current legal and business news, both issued by NOMIKI BIBLIOTHIKI, the leading publishing, professional training and legal technology organization in Greece & Cyprus.

Summary

Transactions are becoming increasingly more automated and quick, assisted by the rapid developments in technology, within a digitalised environment dominated by platforms. Standardization, repetition, high speed and low cost are key elements, together with the trustworthiness and security of the systems used, including personal data protection. As a result, many consumers may suffer similar damages either concurrently or within a short period of time out of the use of the same products offered and services provided in breach of the legal requirements.

Thus, consumer collective redress either before or out-of-court, by means of ADR and especially mediation, allows the pursuance of many similar small claims, which individually could not be claimed on cost /benefit analysis. So, collective redress is expected to gain significant legal weight and importance in the years to come. Within this framework, individual consumer litigation appears old fashioned or the last unavoidable resort, since disputes resolution requires similarly low-cost, speedy and mostly uniform mechanisms.

The EU legislator has expressed a stable preference for collective redress, by ADR or litigation, on numerous instances. The Representative Actions Directive, as a horizontal regulation, is the result of a long process implementing this preference, among other considerations. Various other significant EU legislative pieces and initiatives support this trend.

You may download the full paper here and/or read it online here