Tag Archive for: ADR

EU modernises consumer dispute resolution: An overview of the new ADR Directive

By Alexia Kaztaridou (Linklaters)

On 25 September 2025, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) of the European Parliament approved the text of the political agreement on the Alternative Disputes Resolution for Consumer Disputes Directive. This Directive establishes a framework for resolving through ADR procedures contractual domestic and cross-border consumer disputes arising from the sale of goods or provision of services between consumers and traders within an EU context. The amendments to the prior Directive aim to modernise the existing framework in light of new consumer trends, such as the growth of e-commerce, and bring significant changes across several areas, enhancing the protection for consumers and clarifying obligations for traders and ADR entities. The Directive maintains its minimum harmonisation approach, allowing Member States to provide for stronger consumer protection.

Key changes introduced

Enhanced obligations for traders

  • Geographical scope: The Directive’s scope is extended to traders established in third countries who are willing to participate in an ADR procedure and direct their activities towards consumers in one or more Member States, within the meaning of the  Rome I Regulation and the Brussels I bis Regulation (recast). To determine if a trader’s activities are directed to a Member State, factors such as the language or currency used, the ability to order products, or the availability of an application in a national app store may be considered. Member States can also set conditions for the participation of these traders in ADR procedures, such as requiring the trader’s consent for the dispute to be resolved based on the law of the Member State where the consumer resides.
  • Duty to reply: Traders established in the Union will have a duty to reply within, in principle, 20 working days when contacted by an ADR entity, stating whether they will participate in a procedure. This is not required where participation is mandatory by law, to fulfil a contractual obligation or when the ADR entity is entitled to reach an outcome even if the trader did not participate in the procedure. This period may be extended to a maximum of 30 working days for complex disputes, provided the consumer is informed of the extension. If a trader fails to reply within the prescribed deadline, the ADR entity may consider the non-reply as a refusal of the trader to participate and should inform the consumer accordingly.
  • Information and transparency: To improve consumer awareness, traders must provide clear information about ADR, including on their websites.

Expanded material scope

  • Pre-contractual and post-contractual phases: The Directive’s material scope is extended to cover disputes arising from obligations in the pre-contractual and post-contractual phases. Examples include disputes related to misleading advertising, a failure to provide compulsory pre-contractual information required by the Consumer Rights Directive, or issues concerning the use of consumer-provided digital content after a contract has terminated.
  • Contracts paid for with personal data: The scope now includes contracts for the supply of digital content or services where the consumer provides or undertakes to provide personal data instead of making a payment.
  • Member State discretion: Member States are authorised to make trader participation in ADR procedures mandatory in sectors they deem fit, such as transport and tourism. They can also extend ADR procedures to other types of disputes under Union and national law, for instance in relation to competition law.

New requirements for ADR entities

  • Accessibility and fairness: ADR procedures must be made accessible to all, including vulnerable consumers, through ‘easily accessible and inclusive tools’. If a procedure uses automated means, both parties have the right to have the process reviewed by a natural person. Furthermore, ADR entities should not refuse to deal with a dispute where a trader has established disproportionate rules for their own internal complaint handling systems that must be completed before the case can be referred to the ADR entity.
  • Bundling of cases: To promote efficiency, Member States are to allow ADR entities to bundle similar cases into a single procedure where it may lead to a faster or more coherent resolution. Member States may require explicit consumer consent for this.
  • Training and transparency: ADR entities must ensure that the natural persons in charge of dispute resolution have the necessary expertise, including a general understanding of private international law. They must also inform consumers in advance if non-high-risk automated means are used in the decision-making process.
  • Publication of reports: ADR entities are required to publish activity reports to enhance transparency at least every two years. Therein, ADR entities must include information about traders who systematically refuse to comply with the outcomes of ADR procedures.

Promoting participation to the procedures

In principle, the Directive provides that the ADR procedures should be free of charge for consumers. In the event that costs are applied, those costs should not exceed a nominal fee. Member States should encourage ADR entities to reimburse consumers the nominal fee paid where and to the extent that their complaint is justified.

In that context, the Directive requires Member States to implement measures that promote participation in ADR procedures from both traders and consumers. These measures can be either financial or non-financial in nature.

A new role for ADR contact points

Following the discontinuation of the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform, the tasks previously handled by ODR contact points will be taken over by newly established ADR contact points. These contact points will be, inter alia, responsible for:

  • Providing assistance and guidance to consumers and traders on accessing the competent ADR entity, particularly in cross-border disputes.
  • Explaining the procedural rules of relevant ADR entities.

The ADR contact point is to be determined by the consumer’s place of residence. Member States can choose to extend the mandate of these contact points to cover domestic disputes as well.

Consumer assistance and new digital tools

Consumers will have the right to be assisted by third parties, such as consumer organisations or businesses that specialise in claims management, though transparency must be ensured.

In addition, the Commission is mandated to develop a digital interactive tool to guide consumers to the correct ADR entity.

Next steps and national transposition

The next step is the formal adoption of the text by the European Parliament’s plenary, which is expected to take place between 15 and 18 December. Following this, the text must also be formally adopted by the Council. Once the Council has formally adopted the text, it will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Directive will then enter into force 20 days after its publication.

The timeline for the Directive’s implementation is set out in Article 5. Specifically, Member States are required to adopt and publish the national laws necessary to comply with the Directive by 26 months after its entry into force. These new national measures must then be applied starting from 32 months after the Directive’s entry into force.

Given this is a minimum harmonisation Directive, Member States retain discretion to introduce measures that empower consumers even further. For example, they may make ADR mandatory for certain disputes or further extend the material scope. It will therefore be crucial to monitor the national transposition of the Directive to understand how the legal framework will evolve in each Member State.

New book and webinar Sustaining Access to Justice – 5 September

In June the volume “Sustaining Access to Justice: New Avenues for Costs and Funding” was published in the Civil Justice Systems series of Hart Publishing (2025).  The book is edited by Xandra Kramer, Masood Ahmed, Adriani Dori and Maria Carlota Ucín. This edited volume results from a conference held at Erasmus University Rotterdam, as part of the Vici project on Affordable Access to Justice funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).  It contains contributions on access to justice themes, in particular costs and funding of litigation, by key experts across Europe, Latin America and Asia. More information, including the table of contents is available at the Bloomsbury website here.

The book explores the dynamic landscape of legal costs and financing from three perspectives: regulatory frameworks in public and private funding; new trends and challenges in contemporary legal financing; and the transformative potential of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and online dispute resolution (ODR) procedures to streamline civil justice processes and expand access to justice.

By addressing the intersectionality of legal, economic, political, market and social dynamics, the book aims to provide an encompassing understanding of the inherent complexity of costs and funding of litigation, and their implications for access to justice.

A seminar on the ocassion of launching the book will take place on 5 September 2025, from 10-12.15 CET.

Program

10.00 Introduction Xandra Kramer, Masood Ahmed, Carlota Ucin, Adriani Dori

10.15 Jacek Garstka (European Commission) – EC perspective on the access to justice and the role of litigation funding

10.25 Maria Jose Azar-Baud – Trends in Funding of Collective Litigation

10.35 Alexandre Biard – Enforcing Consumer Rights: Costs and Funding

10.50 Discussion

11.10 Eduardo Silva de Freitas – Justice for a Price: Funders, Fees and the RAD

11.20 Marcel Wegmüller – ESG and Litigation Funding: A Practitioner’s View

11.35 Adrian Cordina – Regulating Litigation Funding: A Law and Economics View

11.45 Stefaan Voet/Masood Ahmed – Beyond Litigation: Cost-Effective Strategies for ADR and ODR

12.00 Discussion and Conclusion

More information and (free) registration here.

The 2025 International Arbitration Survey: The Path Forward

“The 2025 International Arbitration Survey: The Path Forward”

Luke Nottage (University of Sydney)

The 14th Queen Mary University of London Survey, again in collaboration with international law firm White & Case, was dissected at an Australian launch seminar (expertly moderated by partner Lee Carroll) at their Melbourne office on 22 July 2025. Some “early insights” had been provided during Paris Arbitration Weeks, when the Survey report was not yet public. This analysis delves deeper into the report and key findings, drawing also on the discussion with our co-panellists, including some suggestions for future research.

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Giustizia consensuale No 1/2024: Abstracts

The first issue of 2024 of Giustizia consensuale (published by Editoriale Scientifica) has just been released, and it features:

Paolo Comoglio (Associate Professor at the University of Genoa), Giustizia forzata. Lo strano caso dell’offer to settle in Cassazione nel nuovo art. 380 bis c.p.c. (Forced Justice. The Strange Case of the Offer to Settle before the Court of Cassation pursuant to the New Article 380-bis of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure; in Italian).

This article examines the accelerated definition procedure for Cassation appeals pursuant to Article 380-bis of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure, as amended by the ‘Cartabia reform’. Beginning with an analysis of case law, the article critically explores the main questions of unconstitutionality surrounding Article 380-bis and the uncertainties that this peculiar procedural device poses.

Paola Licci (Researcher at the Università di Roma Tor Vergata), La centralità della giustizia consensuale nelle controversie di lavoro (The Centrality of Consensual Justice in Labor Disputes; in Italian)

This article examines the evolution of consensual justice in labor matters, beginning with the first form of conciliation provided by the law on probiviral tribunal and ending with the assisted negotiation introduced in labor disputes by the ‘Cartabia reform’. The analysis of these institutions reveals that consensual justice plays a fundamental role in resolving labor disputes, both due to the nature of the litigation and the inability of the justice system to offer effective (and differentiated) protection swiftly.

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Giustizia consensuale No 2/2023: Abstracts

The second issue of 2023 of Giustizia consensuale (published by Editoriale Scientifica) has just been released, and it features:

Giuseppe Trisorio Liuzzi (Professor at the Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”), La composizione negoziata. Una soluzione consensuale della crisi d’impresa (The negotiated settlement. A consensual solution to the business crisis; in Italian)

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Correction: Call for posters Pathways to Civil Justice

The call as posted last week contained an error – the deadline for submission of the poster is not 1 October, but 1 November. My apologies. Find the correct text below.

The conference Challenge Accepted! Exploring Pathways to Civil Justice in Europe will take place at Erasmus School of Law on 19-20 November. You are invited to join us and young researchers are reminded to send in their poster. The deadline is 1 November 2018

Young researchers will have the possibility to present and discuss their work during the poster on 20 November. Posters should focus on the topics of the conference, and show originality. We invite PhD researchers or young academics to present their research in a poster format. The three best posters will be awarded a prize during the closing drinks.

More information on submitting a poster proposal can be found here.

This conference is organised by Erasmus School of Law at Rotterdam University under the ERC project ‘Building EU Civil Justice’ (www.euciviljustice.eu).

For more information, do not hesitate to contact us at hoevenaars@law.eur.nl (Jos) or biard@law.eur.nl (Alexandre).