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Global Class Actions Project
Summary of European Union Developments
Dr Christopher Hodges*
Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford
This paper gives an overview of the mechanisms that exist in European Community law
in relation to collective action, and the state of debate on further possible legislation.
Enforcement of the collective interests of consumers
Various European measures in the consumer protection field include, as part of their
enforcement provisions, an obligation on Member States to provide in their implementing
legislation for collective action to be taken by consumer representative bodies to defend
the collective rights of consumers in specified circumstances. The available remedies
would typically be limited to orders related to the defendant’s conduct, such as injunctive
relief, rather than monetary claims.1
Many Member States have in fact had “representative claim” mechanisms for some years
in their domestic legislation,2 which enable consumer organizations to take enforcement
action to protect the collective interests of consumers. However, such mechanisms have
not been used extensively, primarily because the consumer organisations that could bring
claims have not had enough money to fund the legal costs, or to accept the risk of costs of
losing. A further reason is that some consumer associations have been uncomfortable in
assuming a regulatory enforcement role, which may conflict with their representative
role. Most European States typically reveal a rich amalgam of inter-locking public,
private, official and informal dispute resolution mechanisms.3
The possibility of consumer collective or class actions was first raised in the EU context
in a Commission paper of 1984.4 The paper noted the common legal tradition of the then
Member States, irrespective of whether they came from civil law or common law
traditions, that no individual is entitled to institute legal proceedings unless he establishes