Communication from the Commission - Review of Directive 2002/65 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial services and amending Council Directive 90/619/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC and 98/27/EC
Date: 2006-04-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: approximation of laws, consumer information, consumer protection, contract, distance selling, financial transaction, provision of services

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 6.4.2006 
COM(2006) 161 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

Review of Directive 2002/65 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 
September 2002 concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial services and 
amending Council Directive 90/619/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC and 98/27/EC 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

Review of Directive 2002/65 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 
September 2002 concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial services and 
amending Council Directive 90/619/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC and 98/27/EC 

By  this  Communication,  the  Commission  seeks  to  inform  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council on the state of play regarding the review of the application of Directive 2002/65 on 
distance marketing of consumer financial services1. 

Review 

Directive 2002/65 foresees for a review of the Directive by the Commission. According to its 
Article 20 (1), the Commission is supposed to examine, following the implementation of that 
Directive,  the  functioning  of  the  internal  market  in  financial  services  in  respect  of  the 
marketing  of  those  services.  It  should  further  seek  to  analyse  and  detail  the  difficulties  that 
are, or might be faced by both consumers and suppliers, in particular arising from differences 
between  national  provisions  regarding  information  and  right  of  withdrawal.  Furthermore, 
Article 20 (2) foresees the obligation for the Commission to report to the European Parliament 
and  the  Council,  not  later  than  9  April  2006,  on  the  problems  facing  both  consumers  and 
suppliers  seeking  to  buy  and  sell  financial  services,  and  to  submit,  where  appropriate, 
proposals  to  amend  and/or  further  harmonise  the  information  and  right  of  withdrawal 
provisions  in  Community  legislation  concerning  financial  services  and/or  those  covered  in 
Article 3 of the Directive (i.e. provisions on information to be provided to the consumer prior 
to the conclusion of the distance contract). 

State of play 

Directive  2002/65  entered  into  force  on  9  October  2002.  According  to  Article  21(1)  of  the 
Directive, Member States were due to implement the Directive by 9 October 2004. 

However,  implementation  of  the  Directive  has  been  delayed:  Only  8  Member  States  had 
notified implementation to the Commission by the end of 2004. In the first quarter of 2005, 
the  Commission  received  4  more  notifications,  in  the  second  quarter  of  2005,  again  4  more 
and in the third quarter of 2005, 2 more. This adds up to a total of 18 notifications one year 
after  the  implementation  deadline  had  elapsed.  Including  2  additional  notifications  received 
by  the  beginning  of  2006,  the  Commission  has  received  communications  from  20  Member 
States so far. In addition to that, partial communications have been sent by 2 Member States. 
In the cases of 2 Member States, the Commission has brought the matter before the Court of 
Justice, one further case is still under consideration. 

Moreover, the examination required by Article 20 (1) of the Directive can only be meaningful 
if the Directive has not only been implemented, but is also operational in Member States. This 
requires also certain evidence of the application of the Directive. 

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Directive 2002/65 of 23.09.2002, OJ L 271, 9.10.2002, p. 16. 

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As  a  result,  the  Commission  has  not  been  in  a  position  to  meet  the  requirements  of  
Article 20 (1) of the Directive.  

Launch of study and Commission report 

In order to be able to fully assess the impact of Directive 2002/65 on the internal market as 
requested by the Directive, the Commission has launched a study as groundwork for its report 
(Contract notice: OJ 2006/S 39 – 041355 of 25.2.2006). A comprehensive Commission report 
which  addresses  the  questions  raised  in  Article  20  of  the  Directive  and  possibly  contains 
proposals for revision of the Directive could then be issued in 2008. 

The  Commission  invites  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  to  take  due  note  of  this 
revised planning.  

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