Omnibus Directive and consumer protection: the Government approves the preliminary implementing Decree

On 1^st December 2022 the Council of Ministers approved the preliminary Legislative Decree  implementing  EU Directive 2019/2161 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27^th November 2019, aiming at a better application and modernization of the EU rules on consumer protection, so-called "Omnibus Directive".

The text approved by the Council of Ministers provides for significant amendments and additions to Legislative Decree no. 206/2005, so-called "Consumer Code"; it extends the protection provided to consumers in the event of unfair terms, unfair commercial practices, unfair competition or untruthful commercial communications and also provides for a general review of the sanctioning system.

In particular:

• announcements of price reduction must also indicate the price applied in the previous 30 days; this rule does not apply to products that have been on the market for less than 30 days and perishable products;

• the following practices are considered misleading;

• advertising a good as identical to a good marketed in other Member States, although significantly different in composition or characteristics;
• failure to clearly indicate paid advertisements to obtain a better classification of products;
• the resale of tickets for events purchased using automated tools;
• false product reviews or reviews whose authenticity has not been verified.

• the consumer may bring an action before the ordinary courts in case of unfair commercial practices;
• the deadline for exercising the right of withdrawal with reference to contracts concluded in the context of unsolicited visits to the consumer's home and organized excursions to sell products is extended to 30 days;
• the sanctioning framework has been particularly tightened:  

• the maximum penalty provided for unfair commercial practice and failure to comply with urgent, injunction or removal measures and commitments is raised to 10M (compared to the previous 5);
• in the event of sanctions imposed on cross-border operators on the basis of information also acquired by European Authorities, the penalty is equal to 4% of the turnover achieved in Italy (in the absence of this, the maximum penalty will be, instead, 2M);
• in case of unfair clauses, a penalty from EUR 5,000 to 10M is provided.

 
The draft of the Decree will now be examined by the competent parliamentary committees and, then, shall be definitively approved by the Government.