[ParlTrack]

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 7

(7) In order to address the fact that the progressive introduction of Union sector specific legislation has led to significant overlaps of that legislation with Directive 2002/65/EC and that digitalisation exacerbated some aspects that are not fully addressed by the Directive, including how and when information should be provided to the consumer, the speed with and means through which contracts can be concluded, or the information asymmetry between providers and consumers, it is necessary to revise the rules applicable to financial services contracts concluded between a consumer and a trader at a distance, while at the same time ensuring the application of the ‘safety net’ feature. for financial services which are not covered by Union sector specific legislation and/or financial services excluded from the scope of Union acts governing financial services.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 9

(9) Extending the scope of Directive 2011/83/EU to cover financial services concluded at a distance should ensure the necessary complementarity without reducing the level of consumer protection for all products or services. However, due to the particular nature of consumer financial services, in particular by reason of their complexity, not all the provisions of Directive 2011/83/EU should apply to consumer financial services contracts concluded at a distance. Additionally to the application of several of the provisions of Directive 2011/83/EU, a dedicated chapter with rules applicable only to consumer financial services contracts concluded at a distance should ensure the necessary clarity and legal certainty.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 11

(11) A dedicated chapter in Directive 2011/83/EU should contain an updated version of the still relevant and necessary rules of Directive 2002/65/EC, in particular concerning the right to pre-contractual information and the right to withdrawal, and rules ensuring online fairness when financial service contracts are concluded at a distance.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 17

(17) The use of means of distance communications should not lead to an unwarranted restriction on the information provided to the consumer. In the interests of transparency, requirements should be laid down with regard to when the information should be provided to the consumer prior to the conclusion of the distance contract and how that information should reach the consumer. In order to be able to make their decisions in full knowledge of the facts, consumers should receive the information ~~at least one d~~in due time and in any case always prior to the conclusion of the distance contract. Only in exceptional cases can the information be provided less than a day before the conclusion of the distance contract for financial service. In case the contract is concluded less than one day beforeTerms and conditions laid down in pre-contractual information should remain unchanged for at least one full working day after the provision of all pre-contractual information. Due to its benefits documented in behavioural studies on the capacity of the consumer to understand its rights in full, the trader, within the established timeframe, should be obliged to remind the consumer about the possibility to withdraw from the distance contract for financial service.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 17 a (new)

(17 a) Due to the complexity of financial services and the wide range of alternatives available for the conclusion of financial contracts at a distance, the use of telephone communications should not be encouraged. Rules set out for the provision of pre-contractual information under this Regulation should apply to telephone communications initiated by the provider of financial services. However, to safeguard the cases where this is the sole alternative or presents a clear benefit for the consumer, when the consumer is the one starting the telephone communication, as this signals a clear intention by the consumer to use telephone communications for the purpose of discussing and potentially concluding a financial services contract, the provider should apply specific pre- contractual information obligations before the consumer is bound by the contract.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 18

(18) The information requirements should be modernised and updated to include, for example, the email address of the trader and the information on the risk and reward related to certain consumer financial services. Consumers should also be clearly informed when the price or other characteristics of the offer presented to them isare personalised on the basis of automated processing.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 19

(19) When the consumer financial service concluded at a distance includes a risk-reward profile, it should contain such elements as a summary risk indicator, supplemented by a narrative explanation of that indicator, its main limitations and a narrative explanation of the risks which are materially relevant to the financial service and the possible maximum loss of capital, including information on whether all capital can be lost. The use of a traffic light label for financial risk could also be adopted.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 20

(20) Certain financial services might pursue an environmental or social objective such as contributing to the fight against climate change or contributing to the reduction of over-indebtedness. In order to be able to make an informed decision, the consumer should also be informed about the particular duly documented environmental or social objectives targeted by the financial service.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 22

(22) When providing pre-contractual information through electronic means, such information should be presented in a clear and comprehensible manner. In this regard, the information could be highlighted, framed and contextualised effectively within the display screen. The technique of layering has been tested and proved to be useful for certain financial services; its uses, namely the possibility to present detailed parts of the information through pop-ups or through links to accompanying layers, should be encouraged. A possible manner of providing pre-contractual information is through the ‘tables of contents’ approach using expandable headings. At the top level, consumers could find the main topics, each of which can be expanded by clicking on it, so that the consumers are directed to a more detailed presentation of the relevant information. In this way, the consumer has all the required information in one place, while retaining control over what to review and when. On the other hand, overly lengthy and complex descriptions, small print, and extensive use of hyperlinks should be avoided, as these are methods that worsen the understanding of consumers. Consumers should have the possibility to download all the pre- contractual information documents and to save it as a stand-alone document.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 25

(25) ~~For distance contracts concluded by electronic mean~~Where the trader offers the possibility of concluding distance contracts by means of an online interface (e.g. via web-site or application), he should additionally be obliged to enable the consumer to withdraw from such a contract via a button on that same interface. This should ensure that consumers can withdraw from a contract just as easily as they can conclude it. To achieve this, the trader should provide ~~the consumer with the possibility to use a withdrawal~~a button on the online interface on which the contract is concluded that indicates the possibility of withdrawal. The consumer should be allowed to make the withdrawal statement and to provide certain information to identify the contract. The withdrawal statement shall be submitted by using a confirmation button. In order ~~for~~to ensure the effective use of the withdrawal button, the trader should ensure that it is visible and, when the consumer uses the button, the trader should adequately document its use. This obligation should be laid down not only for distance contracts for financial services, but also for distance contracts for goods and services to enhance the possibilities for consumers to get out of contracts by means of withdrawal.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Recital 26

(26) Consumers may need assistance in order to decide which financial service is the most appropriate for his or her needs and financial situation. Therefore, Member States should ensure that before the conclusion of a financial service contract at a distance, traders provide such assistance in relation to the financial services which they offer to the consumer, by providing adequate explanations about the relevant information, including the essential characteristics of the products proposed. The obligation of providing adequate explanations is particularly important when consumers intend to conclude a financial service contract at a distance and the trader provides explanations through online tools. In order to ensure that the consumer understands the effects that the contract may have on his or her economic situation, the consumer should always be able to obtain human intervention on behalf of the trader, free of charge, during the business hours of the trader.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

(27) Dark patterns on online interfaces are practices that materially distort or impair, either on purpose or in effect, the ability of consumers to make autonomous and informed choices or decisions. Those practices can be used to persuade the consumers to engage in unwanted behaviours or into undesired decisions which have negative consequences for them. When concluding financial services contracts at a distance, traders should therefore be prohibited ~~to use~~from deceiving or nudging consumers and from distorting or impairing the autonomy, decision- making, or choice of the consumers via the structure, design, function or manner of operation of their online interface or a part thereof in a way that could distort or impair consumers’ ability to make a free, autonomous and informed decision or choice. This should include, but not be limited to, exploitative design choices to direct the consumer to actions that benefit the trader, but which may not be in the consumers’ interests, presenting choices in a non-neutral manner, such as giving more prominence to certain choices through visual, auditory, or other components, when asking the recipient of the service for a decision. It should also include repeatedly requesting a consumer to make a choice where such a choice has already been made, instilling a sense of urgency in consumers to speed up the conclusion of a contract; making the procedure of cancelling a service significantly more cumbersome than signing up to it, or making certain choices more difficult or time-consuming than others, making it unreasonably difficult to discontinue purchases and deceiving the recipients of the service by nudging them into decisions on transactions, or by default settings that are very difficult to change, and so unreasonably bias the decision making of the recipient of the service, in a way that distorts and impairs their autonomy, decision-making and choice. However, rules preventing dark patterns should not be understood as preventing providers to interact directly with recipients of the service and to offer new or additional services to them. Legitimate practices, for example in advertising, that are in compliance with Union law should not in themselves be regarded as constituting dark patterns.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 – point a

Directive 2011/83/EU
Article 3 – paragraph 1b – subparagraph 1

‘Articles 1 and 2, Article 3(2), (5) and (6), Article 4, Article 11a, Article 15, Articles 16a to 16e, Article 19, Articles 21 to 23, Article 24(1), (2), (3) and (4) and Articles 25 and 26 shall apply to distance contracts concluded between a trader and a consumer for the supply of financial services.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ

Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 b (new)

Directive 2011/83/EU
Article 11a (new)

(1 b) The following Article is inserted: ARTICLE 11a EXERCISE OF THE RIGHT OF WITHDRAWAL FROM DISTANCE CONTRACTS CONCLUDED BY THE MEANS OF AN ONLINE INTERFACE 1. For distance contracts concluded by the means of an online interface, Member States shall require that the trader allows the consumer to withdraw from the contract by using a button or a similar function. The button or a similar function shall be labelled in a legible manner and shall contain the words “withdraw from contract here” or a corresponding unambiguous formulation. Only the words that appear on that button or that similar function should be taken into account. The withdrawal button or a similar function shall be placed on the online interface in a prominent manner and be easily accessible to the consumer. 2. Using the button or a similar function shall allow the consumer to complete and submit the withdrawal statement by providing the following information: (a) name of the consumer; (b) identification of the contract; (c) details of the electronic means by which the confirmation of the withdrawal shall be sent to the consumer. 3. The withdrawal statement shall be submitted by using a confirmation button or a similar function. The confirmation button or a similar function shall be labelled in a legible manner with the words “withdraw now” or a corresponding unambiguous formulation. It shall be placed in a prominent manner and be permanently available during the entire withdrawal period. Where a confirmation communication is sent after the conclusion of the contract, it shall also include the withdrawal button or similar function. 4. Once the consumer uses the confirmation button or similar function, the consumer shall then automatically receive, on a durable medium, a confirmation that the withdrawal statement has been submitted, including the date and time of the submission. 5. The trader shall confirm to the consumer, on a durable medium and without undue delay, the withdrawal of the contract, including the date and time of its effect, as well as indicate to the consumer whether there are further requirements to complete the withdrawal process, such as sending back the purchased item.

2023/01/18
Committee: IMCO

Maria-Manuel LEITÃO-MARQUES, Maria GRAPINI, Christel SCHALDEMOSE, Biljana BORZAN, Adriana MALDONADO LÓPEZ