THE EU REGULATION ON AFTER-SALES SERVICES IN THE CONSUMER RIGHTS DIRECTIVE: MISSED OR SEIZED THE OPPORTUNITY?

Avrupa Birliği’nin İç Pazar projesi önemli ölçüde sınır ötesi satımlara dayanmaktadır. Bu resimde tüketiciler, güveninin sağlanması gereken asli aktörlerden biri haline gelmektedir. Anketler tüketicilerin, diğerlerinin yanı sıra, satış sonrası hizmetlere ilişkin de endişeleri olduğunu göstermektedir. Ancak AB yakın zamana kadar bu konuda harekete geçmekten kaçınmıştır. 2011 tarihli Tüketici Hakları Direktifi değişik tipte tüketici sözleşmeleri için satış sonrası hizmetlere ilişkin hükümler ihtiva etmektedir. Bu direktifte benimsenen yaklaşım, Komisyon’un 1993 tarihli Tüketici Malları için Garanti ve Satış Sonrası Hizmetlere ilişkin Yeşil Kitap’ında tartışmaya sunulan bilgi-odaklı rejimi yansıtmaktadır. Bu çalışma, Yeşil Kitap’ta önerilen rejimleri incelemek ve Tüketici Hakları Direktifi’nde benimsenen metodun potansiyelini tüketicinin güveni açısından değerlendirmek amacındadır. Bu bakış açısı ile bilgi-merkezli rejimi güçlü kılmanın ve tüm potansiyelini ortaya çıkarmanın anahtarı olduğu için, önerilen rejime uyulmasını sağlayacak yollar tespit edilmeye çalışılacaktır.

The Internal Market project of the European Union is largely dependent on cross-border sales. Consumers in this panorama become one of the vital actors, yet whose confidence needs to be maintained. Surveys indicate that consumers have concerns regarding the provision of after-sales services, inter alia others. Yet the EU avoided acting on it until recently. The Consumer Rights Directive of 2011 encompasses provisions regarding after- sales services in different types of consumer contracts. The approach adopted by this Directive reflects the information-based regime, which was presented for discussion in the Commission’s Green Paper on Guarantees for Consumer Goods and After-sales Services of 1993. This article examines the proposed regimes of the Green Paper and explores the potential of the method adopted by the Consumer Rights Directive, vis-à-vis consumer confidence. In this perspective, a strong compliance with the proposed regime will be sought to be maintained, since it is the key to empowering the information-oriented regime to reach its potential.

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