The characteristics of the new powers granted to consumer protection authorities under Regulation 2017/2394

Abstract

The subject of the article is the characteristics of the new powers granted to consumer protection authorities under Regulation 2017/2394. They concern the possibility of interfering with the online interface of a trader who commits cross-border infringements of collective rights of consumers concluding contracts in the digital area. Powers include the ability to remove content or to restrict access to an online interface; to order a hosting service provider to remove, disable or restrict access to an online interface; or the power to order domain registries to delete a fully qualified domain name. The text discusses the reasons for introducing such regulations and the manner of their implementation in the draft national regulation, as well as a brief discussion of legal solutions in selected Member States. Attention was also drawn to the issue raised in the public debate on the compliance of provisions authorizing administrative authorities to interfere with websites with the criteria formulated in several recent judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.