Legal protection

As part of its duties, the Directorate for Consumer Protection is responsible for the negotiation of European documents and draft laws, transposing them into national legislation and, more specifically, into the Code of Consumption.

Here, the following elements are noteworthy:

Monitoring activities

The Directorate for Consumer Protection constantly monitors the pricing of products and services.

Every year, in addition to routine checks in stores, two to three sectoral surveys are carried out. The choice of the surveys depends on the complaints from consumers or on the development of a specific branch.

As a member of the international Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) network, the Directorate responds to requests for information and implementation from the other CPC member states within the framework of investigations into infractions on Luxembourgish territory and in relation to professionals located in the country.

Every year, the Directorate participates in the joint “Sweep” survey, which is coordinated by the European Commission.

The Directorate is also responsible for the list of consumer credit intermediaries.

Protection of passenger rights

In Luxembourg, the Directorate acts as the national enforcement body (NEB) in the field of air, bus and train passenger rights and of those passengers travelling by sea and inland navigation.

It is responsible for checking that carriers respect passenger rights as set forth in the respective European regulation.

If passengers are unsuccessful in settling a dispute with a given carrier, they can contact the NEB.

This body then analyses the case and, if applicable, takes the necessary measures to ensure that passenger rights are complied with, as set forth by the European regulations.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The Directorate for Consumer Protection is the competent authority that keeps the list of qualified entities (Pdf, 150 Kb) in Luxembourg which comply with the Code of Consumption in terms of procedure for out-of-court settlements.

The Directorate notifies these entities to the European Commission.

Any entity wishing to be included in this list must apply to the Directorate.

The ECC Luxembourg is the point of contact for any cross-border disputes and offers information and assistance to Luxembourg residents.

It also acts as a point of contact for requests submitted or to be submitted via the online consumer dispute resolution platform.

The introduction of a collective recourse mechanism

The introduction of a collective recourse mechanism aims to make consumer rights easier to protect.

Collective recourse contributes to greater justice for all by allowing joint recourse for a large number of consumers having been harmed in the same or a similar way.

It is also useful for the professionals under attack because it prevents the proliferation of individual cases.

To note that the draft legislation gives great weight to out-of-court settlements by means of mediation.

Transposition of European Directives

• Sale of Goods Directive (SGD) (EU) 2019/771 and Digital Content Directive (DCD) 2019/770
  The transposition of Directives 2019/771 and 2019/770 into Luxembourgish law updates the rights of consumers concerning compliance guarantees for new consumer goods, e.g. connected goods (such as smartphones, smartwatches etc.).
  Consumers are also protected within the framework of contracts to supply digital content and services (e.g. smartphone applications, online services, etc.).
  
  
• Among other changes, the transposition of Directive 2019/2161 (known as the Omnibus Directive) introduces rules allowing the Luxembourgish authorities to impose more efficient sanctions against professionals.
  Depending on the case, professionals who do not respect consumer rights may incur a fine totalling up to 4% of their turnover, or 2 million euros.

Moreover, the Directorate performs a number of activities to ensure consumer rights are respected.

The main activities are:

The new Luxembourg Consumer Protection Association (ULC) and the European Consumer Centre (ECC)

The new Luxembourg Consumer Protection Association asbl (ULC) and the European Consumer Centre EIG receive financial support from the Directorate as the result of an agreement.

The aim of the financial aid is to support these bodies in their mission to inform and assist individual consumers.

Consumer Council

The Consumer Council is a tripartite consultative body.

It is composed of representatives from various ministries, professional bodies and consumer protection associations.

The Council’s missions are set forth in the legislative part of the Code of Consumption, and its composition is defined in the regulatory portion of the Code.

It is presided by a representative from the Directorate of Consumer Protection.

Guide for the retailer

Businesses who offer products and services to consumers must comply with the provisions of the Code of Consumption.

In this respect, we offer free information material to professionals to make this task easier.