The Council adopted its position at first reading with a view to the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 and amending Regulations (EU) 2017/2394 and (EU) 2018/1724 with regard to the discontinuation of the European Online Dispute Resolution Platform.

As a reminder, Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council established, and mandated the Commission to develop and maintain, the European Online Dispute Resolution Platform (ODR platform) at Union level, offering a single point of entry to consumers and traders seeking the out-of-court resolution of disputes arising from online sales or service contracts.

Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 requires online traders and online marketplaces to provide, on their website, an easily accessible link to the ODR platform. That obligation, together with information campaigns organised by the Commission and national stakeholders, has brought between two and three million visitors to the ODR platform every year.

However, only a minority of visitors use the ODR platform to submit a complaint and only 2 % of those complaints receive a positive reply from traders, meaning that their request can be transmitted to an ADR entity listed on the ODR platform. All in all, this represents about 200 cases per year across the Union.

The Commission published a call for evidence on adapting out-of-court dispute resolution to digital markets, which ran from 28 September to 21 December 2022. The Commission concluded that the ODR platform had been used by only 5 % of consumers who responded to that call for evidence.

The Regulation aims to repeal Regulation (EU) No 524/2013, thus discontinuing the ODR platform and removing the associated obligations. The level of performance of the ODR platform does not justify the costs incurred by the Commission to maintain the tool, nor the cost borne by public administrations and by online businesses to comply with their obligations under the ODR Regulation.

On substance, the Council position at first reading does not amend the Commission proposal and, consequently, is in line with the European Parliament’s position. The Council position at first reading only includes changes resulting from the legal-linguistic revision.

Council position

The European Parliament adopted by 618 votes to 3, with 1 abstention, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 and amending Regulations (EU) 2017/2394 and (EU) 2018/1724 with regards to the discontinuation of the European ODR Platform.

Parliament adopted its position at first reading by taking over the Commission proposal.

The proposal aims to repeal the Regulation setting up the European Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform, thus discontinuing the ODR platform and remove the obligation on the online businesses to provide a link to the ODR platform and manage an email for communication.

Text adopted by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading

The Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection adopted the report by Laura BALLARÍN CEREZA (S&D, ES) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council repealing Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 and amending Regulations (EU) 2017/2394 and (EU) 2018/1724 with regards to the discontinuation of the European ODR Platform.

The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament adopt its position at first reading taking over the Commission's proposal.

The proposal aims to repeal the Regulation setting up the European Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform, thus discontinuing the ODR platform and remove the obligation on the online businesses to provide a link to the ODR platform and manage an email for communication.

Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading

PURPOSE: to repeal the Regulation on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) by discontinuing the European Online Dispute Resolution Platform (the ODR Platform).

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: the European Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform, set up by Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes, has been operating since 2016 as a fully multilingual digital infrastructure where consumers can request online traders to solve a dispute using an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) entity.

Despite a high number of visits, the ODR platform is only enabling on average 200 cases EU wide to be treated by and ADR entity per year. However, only a minority of visitors use the platform to launch a complaint, and only 2% of those actually receive a positive reply from traders so that their request can be transmitted to an ADR body listed on the platform.

This level of performance does not justify the costs incurred by the Commission to maintain the tool, nor the cost borne by public administrations and by online businesses to comply with their obligations under the ODR Regulation.

There was a consensus that the useful effect of the ODR Platform was very limited and thus not cost-effective.

CONTENT: this proposal aims to repeal the ODR Regulation, thus discontinuing the ODR platform and remove the obligation on the online businesses to provide a link to the ODR platform and manage an email for communication.

The Commission should inform users of the platform with open ADR cases of the discontinuance of the platform by two months after the date of entry into force of this Regulation and offer assistance to retrieve case data accessible to them if they wish to do so.

The discontinuation of the ODR platform would permit to save costs for businesses, Member States and for the Commission, while the cost for ADR entities would not be impacted. Discontinuing the platform therefore does not have any negative budgetary implications.

Legislative proposal

PURPOSE: to repeal the Regulation on Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) by discontinuing the European Online Dispute Resolution Platform (the ODR Platform).

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: the European Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Platform, set up by Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes, has been operating since 2016 as a fully multilingual digital infrastructure where consumers can request online traders to solve a dispute using an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) entity.

Despite a high number of visits, the ODR platform is only enabling on average 200 cases EU wide to be treated by and ADR entity per year. However, only a minority of visitors use the platform to launch a complaint, and only 2% of those actually receive a positive reply from traders so that their request can be transmitted to an ADR body listed on the platform.

This level of performance does not justify the costs incurred by the Commission to maintain the tool, nor the cost borne by public administrations and by online businesses to comply with their obligations under the ODR Regulation.

There was a consensus that the useful effect of the ODR Platform was very limited and thus not cost-effective.

CONTENT: this proposal aims to repeal the ODR Regulation, thus discontinuing the ODR platform and remove the obligation on the online businesses to provide a link to the ODR platform and manage an email for communication.

The Commission should inform users of the platform with open ADR cases of the discontinuance of the platform by two months after the date of entry into force of this Regulation and offer assistance to retrieve case data accessible to them if they wish to do so.

The discontinuation of the ODR platform would permit to save costs for businesses, Member States and for the Commission, while the cost for ADR entities would not be impacted. Discontinuing the platform therefore does not have any negative budgetary implications.

Legislative proposal