Services Standards: Defining the Core Consumer Elements ... - ANEC

Services Standards
• Compensation for incomplete and insufficient performance: technical
standards should foresee the right of the consumer to cancel the
contract, thereby referring to the relevant national rules,
• Liability for personal belongings: technical standards should provide for
the right of the consumer to claim compensation if his or her personal
belongings have been negligently damaged,
• Liability for personal injuries: technical standards should provide for the
right of the consumer to claim compensation if he or she suffered from
personal injuries which result from negligent performance of a service, or
from negligent violation of a duty of care,
• The general standard of care requires that reasonable care is exercised.
The standard must correspond to the relevant service and its inherent
risks. Non-binding rules, such as technical standards or
recommendations, may provide guidance for fixing the level of care.
Compliance with such non-binding rules does not automatically exempt
service providers from liability 456 ,
• Service providers should provide for liability insurance at an adequate
level depending on the type of services at stake 457 .
5. Post-contractual stage – after-sales services, complaint handling,
dispute settlement, collective redress, protection against insolvency
Legally the post-contractual stage is rather underdeveloped. That is why
standard-setting could help to set up a common regulatory framework on
services. This might, however, be rather difficult in fields where European law
and the majority of the Member States laws are underdeveloped, such as in the
field of collective redress, at least beyond injunctive relief 458 .
• After-sales services 459 : Service providers should provide for an aftersales
service that guarantees the availability of spare parts for ten years
and for the regular maintenance of the equipment and of the premises
which are used in fulfilling the service, as well inspection duties to ensure
456 More detailed rules maybe found in the proposal presented by Magnus/Micklitz, Liability for
the Safety of Services, 2006, p. 575.
457 In the same direction, Finnish Consumer Agency’s Guidelines for the Promotion for Safety
in Program Services, 11/2003 under 15.
458 This can be regarded as the minimum standard provided for in EC law, in particular by way
of Directive 98/27/EC on injunctions.
459 The early effort of the European Commission to integrate after-sales services in the
Directive 99/44/EC on consumer sales failed, see COM (93) 509 final, 16.11.1993, p. 76.
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