Column: Mediator’s Diary

On 27 March 2023, the European Commission published the Consumer Scoreboard. The Scoreboard monitors the consumer environment in the European Union and examines the progress made in the EU's Digital Single Market from a consumer perspective. За съжаление, наблюденията в нашия Център за АРС показват, че търговците не мислят така. Голяма част от жалбите са срещу телеком операторите и банките, които традиционно отказват да разглеждат жалбите срещу тях.

The Scoreboard demonstrates that consumers perceive that it is easier to settle a dispute through an out-of-court body in comparison to doing so through the courts.

Some 45% of consumers felt that it is easy to settle disputes with retailers and service providers through an out-of-court body, compared with 34% who felt that going through the courts is easy. This difference in perception is common to all member states, although the difference varies considerably. The oldest cohort (65+) is significantly less likely to agree with the ease of settling disputes via the courts (28%) or through an out-of-court body (39%).

Consumers engagement with ADR directly related to time and money

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms are designed to provide both consumers and traders with a quick and inexpensive alternative to court proceedings. Research conducted in the summer of 2022 in six EU member states8 found that consumers are more inclined to consider ADR for claims of high value and/or with lower resolution time.

When asked about different hypothetical claims of varying value and duration in time, consumers were generally more willing to devote more time and effort to claims of higher value. While 58% of those surveyed would be prepared to drop their case and lose the money for a claim of €50 or less, 31% would use ADR irrespective of the time required for a claim in the region of €5,000 to €10,000.

Based on data from the 2022 Justice Scoreboard9 the estimated time needed to resolve litigious civil and commercial cases at first instance varies considerably by country. Among the 23 member states with data available this time ranges from just over 100 days in Lithuania, to almost 700 days in Italy. The estimated time exceeds 200 days in 12 countries.

Source: https://commission.europa.eu/document/89ea35fe-728f-4749-b95d-88544687583c_en