Diritto ed Economia dell'ImpresaISSN 2499-3158
G. Giappichelli Editore

10/02/2022 - Personal data: from “res extra commercium” to exchange currency

argomento: News del mese - Diritto Internazionale e Comunitario

Articoli Correlati: Personal data - Consumer protection - Competitiveness

With effect from 1st of January 2022, Legislative Decree 4 November 2021 no. 173, decree through which Directive (EU) 2019/770, relating to contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services, was transposed into internal law. The purpose of the Directive is to ensure the right balance between achieving a high level of consumer protection and promoting the competitiveness of businesses, guaranteeing a European area without internal borders in which goods and services can circulate freely. Indeed, companies offering digital services across borders, especially SMEs, often face additional costs attributable to the diversity of national consumer law regulations and, therefore, the costs of adapting their contracts to the specific rules existing in different Member States. On the other hand, consumers do not always feel safe when shopping cross-border due to uncertainty about essential contractual rights and the lack of a clear contractual framework for digital content and services. By harmonizing certain regulatory aspects of the supply of digital content or digital services across the Union, both businesses and consumers will be able to rely on the certainty of the rules and raise their respective bargaining expectations.