The Council adopted its position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 and amending Regulations (EU) 2017/2394 and (EU) 2018/1724 with regard to the discontinuation of the European Online Dispute Resolution Platform.
As a reminder, Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council established, and mandated the Commission to develop and maintain, the European Online Dispute Resolution Platform (ODR platform) at Union level, offering a single point of entry to consumers and traders seeking the out-of-court resolution of disputes arising from online sales or service contracts.
Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 requires online traders and online marketplaces to provide, on their website, an easily accessible link to the ODR platform. That obligation, together with information campaigns organised by the Commission and national stakeholders, has brought between two and three million visitors to the ODR platform every year.
However, only a minority of visitors use the ODR platform to submit a complaint and only 2 % of those complaints receive a positive reply from traders, meaning that their request can be transmitted to an ADR entity listed on the ODR platform. All in all, this represents about 200 cases per year across the Union.
The Commission published a call for evidence on adapting out-of-court dispute resolution to digital markets, which ran from 28 September to 21 December 2022. The Commission concluded that the ODR platform had been used by only 5 % of consumers who responded to that call for evidence.
The Regulation aims to repeal Regulation (EU) No 524/2013, thus discontinuing the ODR platform and removing the associated obligations. The level of performance of the ODR platform does not justify the costs incurred by the Commission to maintain the tool, nor the cost borne by public administrations and by online businesses to comply with their obligations under the ODR Regulation.
On substance, the Council position at first reading does not amend the Commission proposal and, consequently, is in line with the European Parliament’s position. The Council position at first reading only includes changes resulting from the legal-linguistic revision.