101 UK Brexit Notes

Connemara Programme October 16 2018 pg. 179 Consumer rights if there’s no Brexit deal Purpose This notice provides guidance to businesses and consumers setting out the UK approach to the consumer legislative framework if the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 with no agreement in place. If the UK leaves the EU in March 2019 without a deal, find out how this would affect: consumer protection and cross-border protection, alternative dispute resolution and online dispute resolution; package travel, timeshare, textile labelling, footwear labelling, Consumer protection and cross border enforcement Before 29 March 2019 EU consumer protection legislation ensures consumers across the EU can buy goods and services from other EU countries, knowing that the protections and safety standards are the same or similar in every EU Member State. The consumer protection regime is supported by a reciprocal cross-border consumer enforcement framework and the civil judicial cooperation framework (covered in the Technical Notice on civil judicial cooperation). The former allows cooperation between EU Member State consumer enforcement authorities, and the latter provides access to redress for consumers when their rights have been breached. For example, if a UK consumer buys an item from an EU based trader and the item does not arrive or there is a problem, the UK consumer can use UK law and the UK courts for redress, and judgment will be recognised in the EU Member State in question. The frameworks include the ability for consumers to gain access to advice and guidance on their rights and who to contact in order to make a complaint or take action through dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve issues. After March 2019 if there’s no deal The government is taking steps to ensure that after exit UK consumers will retain the protections they currently have when buying from UK businesses. This means making certain changes in UK legislation through the EU Withdrawal Act to ensure that the law operates effectively after exit. As the UK will no longer be a Member State, there may be an impact on the extent to which UK consumers are protected when buying goods and services in the remaining Member States. The laws of those states are similar but may differ in some areas to UK law both as respective laws evolve over time as well as due to differing levels of harmonisation between Member States in some areas. UK consumers will also no longer be able to use the UK courts effectively to seek redress from EU based traders, and if a UK court does make a judgement, the enforcement of that judgement will be more difficult as we will no longer be part of the EU. In addition, there will no longer be reciprocal obligations on the UK or EU Member States to investigate breaches of consumer laws or take forward enforcement actions. The UK government will continue to work with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Civil Service to ensure the future consumer protection regime works across the UK. Implications UK consumers should not see any immediate differences in protection between UK law and that of EU Member States as UK and EU law is highly aligned. However , consumers should always check the terms of consumer protection offered by the seller and the Member State the seller is located in to confirm if the level of protection is different from the UK level of protection. UK consumers would need to seek redress through the courts of that state rather than UK courts. For further help and advice UK consumers can continue to contact the UK’s European Consumer Centre. Actions for businesses and other stakeholders Businesses selling into EU countries should keep apprised of any future changes in EU Member State laws.