Agenda

Morning

08:45 – 09:40

Registration and Welcome Coffee

09:40 – 09:50

Opening Remarks & Moderator for Session 1

Jules Stuyck, Faculty of Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

09:50 – 11:00

Session 1: The Optional CESL - a project too far or the enabler for cross-border trade in Europe?

Will the creation of a single set of optional rules for sales contracts meet the objective of increasing cross-border trade in Europe? Will the parallel and optional nature of the regulation create more choice or as it is argued, more uncertainty? What will the impact be on legal costs and will issues such as the variations between member state VAT rules and cultural dimensions such as language always present barriers to cross-border trade that cannot be overcome? Can the CESL develop to become a gold standard used as a mark of trust and quality, and will the inclusion of digital goods be key in driving forward cross border e-commerce?


Mihalea Carpus Carcea, Policy Officer, DG Justice, European Commission
Ursula Pachl, Deputy Director General, BEUC
Hanne Melin, European Legislative Counsel, eBay
Susanne Czech, Secretary General, EMOTA
Sajjad Karim, Member, European Parliament

11:00 – 11:30

Keynote Presentation

Viviane Reding, Vice President, Commissioner, Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship European Commission

11:30 – 11:50

Coffee Break

11:50 – 13:00

Session 2: Ensuring a functioning system for redress in Europe - Collective Redress, Class Actions & Alternative Dispute Resolution

Collective redress and ADR are seen as key routes to creating a more efficient redress system in Europe. This session will explore issues such as whether consumer ADR outcomes should be binding and in what sectors if any should mandatory ADR be imposed? Should different ADR approaches be taken when dealing with consumer and SME complaints and how should ADR and collective redress function together?


Lewis Crofts, Chief Antitrust Correspondent, MLex
Eddy De Smijter, Deputy Head of Unit A1, Private Enforcement, DG Competition, European Commission
Maurits Bruggink, Executive Director, Seldia
Sebastian Bohr, Deputy Head of Unit - Financial Services and Redress, DG SANCO, European Commission
Pula Houghton, Director of Public Policy & Consumer Markets, Which?
Arundel McDougall, Executive Director, European Justice Forum

13:00 – 14:15

Lunch

Afternoon

14:15 – 16:00

Session 3: Unfair Commercial Practices Directive - has maximum harmonisation worked?

The European Commission is currently working on a report reviewing the application of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive that is due in the spring of 2012. Have Member States transposed the Directive correctly and what have the main transposition problems been? What are the main areas of abuse by rogue traders? Do new practices need to be tackled and do small businesses require equal protection? Should the UCPD cover B2B as well as B2C transactions and how would this operate in practice?


Jules Stuyck, Faculty of Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Veronica Manfredi, Head of the Unit for Consumer and Marketing Law, European Commission
Sébastien de Brouwer, Executive Director - Retail, Legal, Economic & Social Policy, European Banking Federation
James Lawless, Junior Adviser Legal Affairs, UGAL - Union des Groupements de détaillants indépendants de l'Europe
Imelda Vital, EU Affairs and Corporate Affairs Manager, Amway

Evening

16:00 – 16:15

Closing Remarks