REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the application of Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes and Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes
Date: 2023-10-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: Internet site, alternative dispute resolution, application of EU law, consumer protection, digital single market, electronic commerce, goods and services, provision of services, trade dispute

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 17.10.2023  COM(2023) 648 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the application of Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes and Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes  
 
 
1. Introduction 

Directive  2013/11/EU  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  alternative  dispute 
resolution for consumer disputes1 (“ADR Directive) provides a legislative framework to ensure 
consumers’  access  to  high-quality  ADR  procedures  for  settling  their  disputes  with  traders. 
Article  26  provides  that  every  four  years,  “the  Commission  shall  submit  to  the  European 
Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  a  report  on  the 
application  of  this  Directive.  That  report  shall  consider  the  development  and  the  use  of  ADR 
entities  and  the  impact  of  this  Directive  on  consumers  and  traders,  in  particular  on  the 
awareness of consumers and the level of adoption by traders. That report shall be accompanied, 
where appropriate, by proposals for amendment of this Directive”. 

Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on online dispute 
resolution  for  consumer  disputes2  (ODR  Regulation)  applies  to  disputes  over  online  purchases 
and  establishes  a  digital  infrastructure  (the  European  ODR  platform)  that  allows  consumers  to 
reach  out  to  online  traders  and  to  propose  to  solve  their  dispute  using  a  quality  ADR  entity 
compliant to the ADR Directive. Article 21(2) of the ODR Regulation provides that every three 
years “the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the 
application of this Regulation, including in particular on the user-friendliness of the complaint 
form  and  the  possible  need  for  adaptation  of  the  information  listed  in  the  Annex  to  this 
Regulation. That report shall be accompanied, if necessary, by proposals for adaptations to this 
Regulation”. 

Together with the Directive on Representative actions3, these legal acts provide a comprehensive 
legal  framework that Member States have to  implement  to  ensure efficient  access  to  consumer 
redress in the EU.   

The  2019  implementation  report  on  the  ADR/ODR  framework4  concluded  that  thanks  to  the 
ADR Directive, “EU consumers have access to high-quality ADR procedures across the Union 
and in virtually all retail sectors, regardless of whether the dispute is domestic or cross-border 
and  whether  the  purchase  was  made  online  or  offline”.  With  regards  to  ODR,  the  report 
underscored  that  the  European  ODR  platform  became  a  multilingual  hub  that  attracted  8,5 
visitors, with 120 000 disputes submitted.  

However,  the  report  also  found  that  consumer  ADR  was  still  under-used  due  to  lack  of 
awareness, difficulties navigating the diverse ADR landscape in certain Member States but also 
due  to  a  general  reluctance  of  traders  to  participate.  When  it  comes  to  the  ODR  platform,  the 

1  Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending 
Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC (Directive on consumer ADR) 
2 Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending 
Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC (Regulation on consumer ODR) 
3 Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of 
the collective interests of consumers 
4 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee on the application of 
Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes and Regulation 
(EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes, COM(2019) 425 final 

1 

 
 
 
report  flagged  that,  despite  a  high  number  of  visits  there  was  a  limited  consumer  interest  in 
requesting  and  ADR  procedure  to  the  concerned  traders,  which  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases 
either  remained  silent  or  offered  to  consumers  to  settle  the  case  outside  of  the  platform.  As  a 
result, about 2% of the requests for an ADR process were sent to an ADR entity. 

The present report is submitted in accordance with Article 26 of the ADR Directive and Article 
21(2)  of  the  ODR  Regulation.  It  is  part  of  a  wider  package  proposing  to  amend  the  ADR 
Directive, a Commission recommendation to online marketplaces and EU trade associations and 
the  repeal  the  ODR  Regulation.  Whilst  this  report  summarises  the  main  findings  of  the 
assessment work conducted since 2019, it must be read in conjunction with the extensive impact 
assessment  carried  out  for  the  review  of  the  ADR  Directive  which  contains  a  comprehensive 
evaluation of the ADR Directive and in Annex 6 of the Impact Assessment a detailed assessment 
of the functioning of the ODR Regulation.  

The sources of information that form the basis for the current report are listed in the Annex. 

2. Directive 2013/11/EU  

2.1. Scope and objectives  

Under  the  Directive,  Member  States  facilitate  EU  consumer  access  to  ADR  and  ensure  that 
consumers can turn to quality-certified ADR entities to resolve their disputes with an EU trader 
over  the  purchase  of  a  product  or  a  service.  Consumers  should  have  access  to  ADR  in  all 
economic  sectors5,  both  for  online  and  offline  purchases,  and  for  domestic  and  cross-border 
disputes alike. 

The  Directive  has  a  minimum  harmonisation  approach:  while  its  purpose6  is  to  ensure  that 
consumers  can  submit  complaints  against  traders  to  entities  offering  independent,  impartial, 
transparent,  effective,  fast  and  fair  alternative  dispute  resolution  procedures,  it  leaves  Member 
States a wide margin of discretion for designing these systems: 

•  Member  States  must  ensure  full  ADR  coverage  by  entities  that  comply  with  the 
requirements  of  accessibility,  expertise,  independence,  impartiality,  transparency, 
effectiveness,  fairness,  liberty  and  legality  pertaining  to  the  composition,  operations 
and outcomes as binding quality; 

•  The Directive establishes a specific mechanism to ensure the quality of ADR process: 
Member  States  designate  national  competent  authorities  that  establish  and  maintain 
national  lists  of  ADR  entities  whose  compliance  with  the  Directive’s  quality 
requirements7  these  authorities  have  certified.  The  list  of  quality  ADR  entities  is 
communicated  to  the  European  Commission  and  is  publicly  available  on  the  ODR 
platform. The competent authorities can also remove ADR entities from the list, if these 
entities no longer comply with the quality requirements. 

5 Exceptions in Article 2(2): non-economic services of general interest, healthcare and public education 
6 Article 1  
7 Chapter II of the ADR Directive: expertise, independence and impartiality; transparency, effectiveness, fairness, liberty and legality 

2 

 
 
 
•  While  the  traders  are  subject  to  some  information  requirements  on  the  use  of  ADR, 
Member  States  are  free  to  decide  whether  traders’  participation  is  mandatory  or 
voluntary, or whether the outcome is binding8. 

•  Nevertheless,  the directive establishes  guarantees for consumers  to ensure that ADR 
remains  accessible,  such  as  restriction  on  fees  (free  of  charge  or  nominal  fee)  or 
procedural deadlines (15 days to review the admissibility of the complaint, and 90 days to 
reach an outcome). 

2.2 Development of ADR entities 
Article  25(1)  of  the  ADR  Directive  required  Member  States  to  bring  into  force  the  laws, 
regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive by 9 July 2015. 
Notwithstanding  some  delays,  which  had  been  duly  solved,  the  2019  report  concluded  that 
transposition was complete in the EU Member States, who regularly notify ADR entities to the 
Commission,  which  subsequently  publishes  the  list,  along  with  the  main  data  on  ADR 
procedures, on the ODR platform9. On 1 July 2017, the ADR Directive became applicable in the 
EEA countries Iceland10, Liechtenstein and Norway.  

Member  States  have  taken  full  advantage  of  the  flexibility  provided  by  the  Regulation:  while 
some countries  prefer sector-specific ADR  entities,  others favour  a generalist  approach (mixed 
approach,  with  some  sectoral  entities  and  a  “residual”  entity  covering  other  disputes).  Some 
countries  have  preserved  historical  ADR  entities  attached  to  a  specific  trader  or  traders’ 
organisations11, and some countries maintain a decentralised system with separate ADR entities 
for different regions and provinces. 

Member State 
Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Iceland 

Number of ADR entities 

8 
13 
17 
7 
4 
8 
26 
4 
3 
82 
28 
4 
21 
6 

Traders’ participation 
required? 

Specific sectors 
Specific circumstances 

Specific circumstances 
Specific sectors 

Yes 

Specific sectors 
Specific sectors 
yes 
Yes 

8  Article  9(2)  and  9(3)  of  the  ADR  Directive  set  out  additional  guarantees  of  fairness  for  the  outcomes  that  may  become  binding,  i.e.  prior 
information  and  reasonable  time  to  reflect,  while  allowing  national  legislation  that  makes  outcomes  binding  upon  a  trader  once  a  consumer 
accepted the outcome. 
9 https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/main/?event=main.adr.show2 
10 While transposition in Iceland was delayed, the necessary legislation was adopted and ADR entities communicated to the Commission in 2020. 
11 ADR Directive provides for additional independence safeguards, such as separate budget, for the entities run by traders or their organisations 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Liechtenstein 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Norway 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
TOTAL 

4 
53 
5 
2 
4 
5 
8 
4 
12 
25 
12 
2 
7 
12 
37 
7 
430 

Yes 

Yes 

Specific circumstances 

Yes 

Specific sectors 
Specific circumstances 

 Source: Data collection study; Annexes + official ODR platform data 

 As  communicated  by  the  national  competent  authorities,  64%  of  all  notified  ADR  entities 
deliver  non-binding  outcomes,  further  20%  deliver  outcomes  that  are  binding  on  both  parties, 
while  the  remaining  ADR  entities’  outcomes  are  binding  only  upon  traders,  or  more  than  one 
type  of  outcome  can  be  delivered.12  Overall,  as  concluded  in  the  evaluation13  eight  Member 
States  do  not  allow  for  binding  outcomes,  while  17  Member  States  only  make  the  outcomes 
binding in certain circumstances/under certain conditions. 

Use of the ADR entities by traders 

The  2019  Consumer  Conditions  Scoreboard14  revealed  that  only  30%  of  the  EU  retailers  were 
willing  and  able  to  use  ADR,  while  43%  were  unaware  of  its  existence.  However,  the 
evaluation15  shows  that,  in  most  Member  States,  when  a  consumer  approaches  an  ADR  entity 
with  a  dispute,  the  traders  are  generally  willing  to  engage:  10%  or  less  of  traders  refuse  to 
participate in the proposed ADR procedures on average.   

Use of ADR entities by consumers 

The 2019 report concluded that the practical effect of the ADR directive was limited due to the 
relatively low consumer awareness.  It must be said that almost all Member States already take 

12 Source: official procedural information notified on the ODR platform.  
13 See section 4.1.2 of the Evaluation Report. 
14 Consumer Conditions Scoreboard – Consumers at home in the Single Market, 2019, https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2020-
07/consumers-conditions-scoreboard-2019_pdf_en.pdf 
15 See Section 3 of the Evaluation Report. 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
measures  to  promote  and  incentivise  the  use  of  consumer  ADR.16  Nevertheless,  only  6%  of 
consumers who experienced a problem with a trader had reported it to an ADR body17.  

When  it  comes  to  the  actual  number  of  disputes  handled  by  the  ADR  entities,  the  data  is 
incomplete. It  appears that ADR entities in  the 23 Member States which provided data receive 
around  300  000  eligible  disputes  per  year  in  total.  Two  thirds  of  these  cases  were  handled  in 
Italy, Germany and France, while the lowest amount of disputes was in Croatia. However, when 
adjusted  for  the  population  size,  the  highest  density  of  ADR  cases  per  capita  are  found  in 
Norway, Estonia and Lithuania while the lowest are in the South and East of Europe.  

The resolution rate (proportion of cases where an ADR entity delivered an outcome compared to 
the number of cases  admitted by ADR entities) varies significantly per member state, although 
most report a resolution of 50% or higher: 

Source: Data collection study: Data for 3 Member States only covered some of the years: BE (based on 
data 2018-2021), FR (based on data 2019 and 2020), and RO (based on data 2018-2020). 

3. Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 

3.1 Scope and objectives 

The  objective  of  the  ODR  Regulation  is  to  establish  the  European  Online  Dispute  Resolution 
Platform  (“ODR  platform”)  to  facilitate  access  to  ADR  for  disputes  stemming  from  online 

16 2023 Justice Scoreboard, Figure 26 https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2023-06/Justice%20Scoreboard%202023_0.pdf 
17 Survey of Consumers’ Attitudes Towards Cross-border Trade and Consumer-related Issues 2023, European Commission, 
https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2023-03/ccs_2022_executive_summary.pdf. This number shows only a modest increase of 0,7% 
compared to 2022 data quoted in the Impact Assessment. 

5 

 
 
  
 
 
purchases.  The  Implementing  Regulation18  established  the  technical  modalities  for  the 
functioning of the platform and the network of ODR contact points.  

The  Commission  is  responsible  for  the  development  and  operation  of  the  ODR  platform, 
including  all  the  translation  functions  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  this  Regulation,  its 
maintenance, funding, and data protection. The Commission also publishes reports and statistical 
information and organises the meetings of the National ODR Contact Points.  

The  Member  States  are  responsible  for  establishing  and  maintaining  the  national  ODR  contact 
points with two national ODR advisers. It is up to Member States to decide whom to entrust with 
this  function.  Most  often  it  is    delegated  to  a  European  Consumers  Centre  (ECC),  except  for 
three  Member  States19  where  this  role  is  performed  by  a  national  authority.  The  role  of  the 
contact  points,  pursuant  to  Article  7(2)  of  the  ODR  Regulation,  is  to  support  the  parties 
(consumers,  traders,  ADR  entities)  in  using  the  platform  and  to  provide  them  with  general 
information on applicable consumer rights and redress options. 

The ADR entities are obliged to process the disputes arriving via the  European ODR platform, 
provided that the trader and consumer agreed to refer the dispute to this entity. 

In  addition,  the  regulation  foresees  an  obligation  for  online  marketplaces  and  traders  offering 
their goods and services online to provide an easily accessible link to the ODR platform on their 
website. Traders (but not marketplaces) also have to provide an email address to be used for the 
ODR process. This obligation only concerns traders established in the EU. It should be noted that 
these  obligations  apply  irrespective  of  whether  the  trader  is  under  any  obligation  or  otherwise 
committed to use ADR. As the European ODR platform is a voluntary tool, providing a link and 
contact  details  does  not  imply  that the trader will  engage in  the ODR process, and data shows 
that the majority of contacted traders do not engage.  

3.2 Main features of the ODR platform and information list in the Annex of the Regulation 
The ODR platform is a multilingual interactive website that allows consumers to request traders 
the opening of an ADR procedure online. The tool is voluntary for the parties. If traders do not 
agree within 30 days, the case is automatically closed. ADR entities have the possibility to use 
the platform case management tool or their own tools. 

The  Annex  to  the  Regulation  provides  the  list  of  information  that  is  needed  to  handle  a  case. 
Such information has proven to be sufficient for ADR entities to manage the cases transmitted to 
them by the platform. The Commission never received complaints about it or requests to change 
it. 

18 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1051 of 1 July 2015 on the modalities for the exercise of the functions of the online dispute 
resolution platform, on the modalities of the electronic complaint form and on the modalities of the cooperation between contact points provided 
for in Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes. 
19 Lithuania, Slovenia, Poland 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As of 2019, the Commission added the functionalities described below which are not required by 
the  ODR  Regulation  in  an  attempt  to  improve  the  user  experience  and  the  consumers’ 
understanding of whether or not their case was suited for the platform: 

(1) A  self-test  to  identify  which  redress  solution  would  be  the  most  appropriate  for  their 
specific  issue:  launching  a  complaint  on  the  ODR  platform,  contacting  the  trader 
bilaterally, seeking help from a European Consumer Centre or submitting a complaint to 
an ADR  entity  directly.  This  became the most successful  feature of the  ODR platform: 
over  200  000  visitors  have  completed  the  self-test  in  2022,  compared  to  17  000  who 
submitted a complaint. 

(2)  An option to share a draft complaint with a trader before submitting it officially, to try to 
settle  the  dispute  directly  (the  so-called  “direct  talks”  module).  This  feature  was 
introduced  in  response  to  the  data  from  the  user  survey,  which  showed  a  higher 
proportion of consumers and traders settling the dispute outside the platform (up to 40%, 
depending on a year, compared to 2% cases successfully reaching ADR stage depending 
on a year). However, only around 1% direct talks actually result in a settlement recorded 
on the ODR platform.  

3.3 Uptake and performance of the platform 

The  ODR  platform  has  been  open  to  the  public  since  February  2016.  The  platform’s  public 
website is one of the most visited sites of the European Commission (2,5 million visits in 2022). 
However,  less  than  two  percent  of  the  visitors  actually  use  the  complaint  form.  The  graphic 
below shows that the self test is used by 200 000 consumers (depending on the year) and that its 
use has led to less consumers using the complaint form, showing that many consumers arriving 
on the platform do not understand its purpose and need orientation.  

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
User engagement: self-test results vs. submissions

 250.000

 200.000

 150.000

 100.000

 50.000

 -

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Complaints

Direct talks

Self test

Source: website analytics for the ODR platform 

The platform amassed 180 000 complaints since its launch in 2016, as a result 19 000 companies, from 
large platforms to SMEs, have registered on the platform since that year. Yet, 80 to 85% of complaints, 
go unanswered on the platform, and only about of 1% of the complaints (i.e less than 200 cases) result in 
an ADR outcome.  

Consequently,  the  Commission  invested  in  improving  the  design  and  technical  performance  of 
the platform. In addition to the new features mentioned in the previous section, the platform was 
completely  redesigned  in  2017-2018,  in  line  with  the  Commission  corporate  guidelines, 
streamlining  the  complaint  process,  rewriting  notifications  in  a  clear  and  specific  language, 
taking  measures  against  the  notifications  being  classified  as  spam.  Further,  the  Commission 
undertook  a  technical  analysis  of  the  necessary  and  desired  platform  functionalities  as  well  as 
different  technological  solutions  that  could  make  the  platform  more  performant,  and  a  design 
thinking exercise to better understand the assistance needs of consumers as well as a behavioural 
experiment to test whether different messages on the platform could improve the understanding 
of consumers. 

However,  the  engagement  rate  of  consumers  remained  low,  regardless  of  the  technical  and  design 
improvements, or information campaigns run by the Commission.  

Year 

Website visits 

Complaints 

Complaints 
referred to 
ADR 

ADR outcomes completed 

 2016* 

1.715.794 

          20.176  

406 

112 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017* 
2018* 
2019* 
2020* 
2021 
2022 
Total 2016-
2022 

2.743.509 
5.246.777 
2.765.583 
3.315.599 
2.616.235 
2.455.677 
20.859.174 

          32.559  
          44.979  
          31.694  
          17.461  
          13.246  
          17.012  
177.127 

597 
860 
598 
429 
400 
318 
3.608 

249 
396 
294 
163 
169 
107 
1.490 

*  UK  consumers,  traders  and  ADR  entities  were  still  using  the  platform  between  2016  and  2020.  While  Brexit 
affected the number of  submissions, it did not have a noticeable change on the proportion of complaints reaching 
ADR. 

The low level of traders’ engagement can be explained by various factors detailed in the Annex 6 to the 
Impact  Assessment  carried  out  for  the  review  of  the  ADR  Directive.  The  main  factor  is  however 
structural,  as  e-commerce  mostly  happened  through  large  marketplaces  which  rapidly  implemented 
effective dispute resolution systems to keep consumers’ trust that if something goes wrong, solutions can 
easily  be  provided.  The  ODR  Regulation  was  proposed  in  2011  with  the  objective  to  assist  SMEs 
digitalise and sell cross border in the Single Market, at the time the rapid development of marketplaces 
was not foreseen.  

While the user surveys20 show that the site itself and the complaint form is relatively user-friendly21, the 
feedback on the usefulness of the tool showed disappointment, notably for the majority of consumers who 
receive  no  feedback from requested traders  and  whose  case  is  automatically closed.  56%  of  consumers 
report they would not use the platform again.  

The  Commission  carried  out  extensive  research  to  see  if  this  could  be  rectified  by  providing  clearer 
information to traders, by improving the design or technology of the platform,22 this research showed that 
no design or technical change would guarantee improvements of the response rate of traders.  

Therefore, the option to revamp the ODR platform has been discarded in the early stages of reflection on 
modernising the ADR/ODR framework.23 As upgrades over seven years of the functioning of the platform 
brought  no  significant  improvements,  further  changes  are  unlikely  to  bring  a  different  result.  In  the 
meantime, maintenance of the ODR platform creates significant costs for the European Commission, for 
the Member States who have to maintain the network of the ODR advisors, and for the traders who have 
to  maintain  the  link  to  the  platform  and  monitor  potential  consumer  complaints  that  the  traders  do  not 
wish to resolve on the platform.  

20 Consumers and traders receive a different survey link, with slightly different questions. 
21 When asked if the site was easy to use, 36% consumers answered very easy or easy, while further 34% found the site neither easy nor difficult. 
51% consumers found the complaint form very easy or easy to use, while further 30% considered it neither easy nor difficult.   
22 For detailed information, please see Annex 6 to the Impact Assessment. 
23 See Section 5.3 of the Impact Assessment. 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3.4 The role of the national contact points 
All  Member  States,  Norway  and  Liechtenstein  have  designated  an  ODR  contact  point.  While  a  few 
Member  States  limit  their  role  to  cross-border  disputes  only,  the  majority  of  the  contact  points  handle 
both local and cross-border cases.  

The  Commission  has  held  network  meetings  with  the  ODR  contact  points  since  2016  and  maintains  a 
collaborative IT tool where ODR contact points can exchange information and best practice. The network 
is  fully  operational  and  receive  up  to  500  queries  per  year.  Throughout  the  reporting  period,  most 
consumer queries concern the automatic closure of the case.  

The role of the ODR contact points is to assist consumers, traders, and the ADR entities with the use of 
the platform, but many of them have become de-facto points of contact for the whole ADR framework, as 
they  help  consumers  whose  case  has  been  automatically  closed  to  find  an  alternative  solution  to  seek 
redress.  

4. Conclusions and the way forward 

The ADR Directive has created a base for accessible and quality consumer redress across the Union and 
in virtually all retail sectors, regardless of whether the dispute is domestic or cross-border and whether the 
purchase  was  made  online  or  offline.  However,  similarly  to  the  conclusions  of  the  2019  report,  its 
practical  uptake  remains  limited.  Meanwhile,  the  evolution  of  the  consumer  markets  created  new 
challenges  that  are  putting  the  current  ADR  architecture  under  strain.  These  challenges  are  further 
detailed  in  a  full  evaluation  of  the  ADR  Directive  as  well  as  in  an  impact  assessment  which  leads  the 
Commission  to  propose  some targeted  amendments to  the  ADR  directive  as  well as a  recommendation 
addressed  to  online  marketplaces  and  EU  trade  associations  which  are  providing  dispute  resolutions 
systems.  

The  ODR  Regulation  and  Platform  were  conceived  at  a  time  when  digital  markets  were  still 
developing, and it was unclear whether adequate private or public tools would be  implemented to assist 
online  traders  and  consumers  use  quality  ADR  entities.  The  rapid  development  of  online  complaint-
handling systems of digital marketplaces, however, became one of the main dispute resolution channels 
for SMEs selling online, making the ODR platform redundant. The limited use of the platform exposed 
above therefore warrants that it is discontinued and therefore the Commission is proposing to repeal the 
ODR Regulation. 

10 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Annex: sources of information to this Report 

•  National legislation implementing the ADR Directive; 

• 

Reports by Member States’ national competent authorities for consumer ADR (‘national competent 
authorities’) on the development and functioning of ADR entities, submitted in 2022 in accordance 
with Article 20(6) of the ADR Directive; 

•  Dedicated  studies:  ADR  data  collection  study  (comprising  desk  research,  surveys  and  interviews 
with the authorities, ADR entities and other stakeholderd, the ADR behavioural study and the mini-
legal study) found here; 

•  Meeting with national competent authorities (2022); 

• 

• 

Results of the 2012 ADR Assembly and other stakeholder events hosted by the Commission;  

Statistical  data  from  the  ODR  platform  and  the  reports  on  the  functioning  of  the  European  ODR 
platform (‘ODR Reports’), submitted in accordance with Article 21(1) of the ODR Regulation; 

•  Activity  reports  by  Member  States’  ODR  contact  points,  submitted  in  2020  and  in  2022  in 

accordance with Article 7(2)(b) of the ODR Regulation; 

•  Meetings with the ODR contact points network;  

• 

Evaluation of the ADR Directive and Impact Assessment.  

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