On 21 June 2018, Insurance Europe cautioned against the adoption of the proposal made by the European Commission on representative actions in consumers’ collective redress as part of its “New Deal for Consumers”.

The reasons for the caution include that the proposal fails to follow the EC’s own 2013 recommendations on collective redress and consequently creates an imbalance between consumers and defendant companies. It is being put forward before member states’ collective redress mechanisms have had time to be evaluated and the actual need for it is therefore unclear. Furthermore, consumers’ fundamental rights to choose whether to be affected by civil procedures are not protected, the scope of the EC proposal is unclear and the legal basis for the proposal is doubtful.