Peter Stevens outlines the proposals to enhance collective redress mechanisms
The Consumer Rights Bill is a major piece of legislation, consolidating and updating swathes of consumer protection legislation in the UK. When the Bill was published on 12 June 2013, most of it came as little surprise, as it has already been extensively trailed in consultation papers and draft clauses. However, tucked away at the end, s 82 reads quite simply, “Schedule 7 (private actions in competition law) has effect”.
This is nothing to do with the Consumer Rights Directive, which the rest of the Bill is designed to implement, but has been on a separate agenda for some time. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) published recommendations in this area in November 2007 and the European Commission’s Green Paper in November 2008 canvassed opinions on a number of options for harmonising the collective redress mechanisms across the EU. The UK government launched its own consultation paper in April 2012 and, in January 2013, announced its intention to legislate. Meanwhile, the European Commission’s draft directive on antitrust damages actions was finally published on 11 June
