The regulation of collective redress for consumers in European Union law

Namen magistrskega dela je bralcu predstaviti ureditev potrošniških kolektivnih tožb v pravu Evropske unije. Kljub večletnim naporom Evropska unija še ni zagotovila ustreznega varstva kolektivnih interesov potrošnikov. Trenutno je v veljavi zgolj en zavezujoč aktDirektiva o opustitvenih tožbah zaradi varstva interesov potrošnikov iz leta 2009, ki se je v praksi izkazala kot neučinkovita. Direktiva kvalificiranim subjektom omogoča vložitev kolektivnih opustitvenih tožb v imenu potrošnikov, s katerimi lahko zahtevajo prenehanje trgovčevih kršitev v bodoče. Ni pa uvedla sistema kolektivnih odškodninskih tožb. Ker se s prepovedjo bodočih trgovčevih kršitev varstvo kolektivnih interesov potrošnikov še ne izčrpa, so nekatere države članice vzpostavile lastne sisteme kolektivnega uveljavljanja denarnih zahtevkov. Vse to je privedlo do velikih razlik med ureditvami kolektivnih pravnih sredstev držav članic. Tretjina držav članic sistema za kolektivno uveljavljanje odškodnine še vedno ne pozna. Z namenom poenotenja ureditve je Evropska komisija objavila več nezavezujočih aktov in delovnih dokumentov, ki na države članice niso imeli večjega učinka. To magistrsko delo skuša bralcu s kronološkim pregledom zakonodajne aktivnosti Evropske unije prikazati smer razvoja kolektivnih pravnih sredstev za varstvo potrošnikov v evropskem pravnem prostoru in obenem predstaviti glavna načela kolektivnih tožb. Poleg tega strjeno opisuje, kako se je problema lotil slovenski zakonodajalec, ki je leta 2017 sprejel Zakon o kolektivnih tožbah. Magistrsko delo se ni moglo izogniti tudi predstavitvi nedavne afere Dieselgate, ki je izpostavila pomanjkljivosti ureditve kolektivnih tožb v pravu Evropske unije.The purpose of this master\u27s thesis is to present to the reader the regulation of collective redress for consumers in European Union law. Despite several years of efforts, the European Union has not yet provided adequate protection for the collective interests of consumers. Currently, there is only one binding act in force, namely the Directive on injunctions for the protection of consumers\u27 interests from 2009, which in practice has proved to be ineffective. The Directive allows qualified entities to file collective injunctions on behalf of consumers, which may require them to bring an end to trader infringements in the future. However, it did not introduce a system of compensatory collective redress. Prohibition of future trader infringements does not exhaust the protection of consumers\u27 collective interests, which is why some Member States have set up their systems of collective redress. All this has led to wide differences between Member States\u27 compensatory collective redress systems. Nevertheless, a third of Member States still does not regulate the collective redress system. To harmonize the regulation, the European Commission has published several non-binding acts and working documents, which have had no significant effect on Member States. For this reason, the master\u27s thesis seeks to show the reader, through a chronological overview of the legislative activity of the European Union, the direction of the development of collective redress for consumer protection in the European legal area and at the same time to present the main principles of collective redress. Besides, the master\u27s thesis briefly describes how the Slovenian legislature tackled the problem by adopting the Collective Actions Act in 2017. Finally, the master\u27s thesis could not avoid the presentation of the recent Dieselgate affair, which exposed the shortcomings of the regulation of collective redress in European Union law