Unfair commercial practices in a non-appearance case

01-08-2011

Michiel Rijsdijk

Since June 2008, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive has been implemented in the Dutch Civil Code, and covers all transactions by companies using an unfair commercial practice.

Since June 2008, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCP Directive) has been implemented in the Dutch Civil Code. The UCP Directive covers all transactions by companies using an unfair commercial practice.

The directive determines when a commercial practice is regarded as unfair, and distinguishes misleading commercial practices from aggressive commercial practices. A Black List enumerates a list of commercial practices that are unfair in any case.

A commercial practice is regarded to be unfair if it can influence the decision of a consumer to buy (or not) a product or service, if it limits the consumer’s freedom of choice or contractual rights. The scope of the directive is limited to transactions between a company and consumers (B2C), and not between companies (B2B).


Netherlands, UCP Directive, Dutch Civil Code, Van Wijk

WIPR