News
The Catalan Ombudsman calls for a new law on conflict resolution that guarantees the independence of the mediating body
The Ombudsman proposes to act in arbitration cases where the services can affect basic consumer rights
The institution urges the authorities to speed up the procedures of this new legal framework in line with the European Directive 2013
A workshop with the employers has been organized to analyse the current situation and the need of transposing the Directive
The need that Spanish Administration and, if appropriate, the Catalan Administration, speed up the transposition of the European Directive on alternative dispute resolution in the sphere of consumption (ADR) has become clear that Thursday 19 January at a conference organized by the Ombudsman and the employers at the headquarters of the ombudsman institution in Barcelona.
Given the special protection required by consumers of basic services of general interest, in the framework of the conference, the role that the Ombudsman should have in the alternative of conflict resolution (ADR) affecting consumer services and basic services of general interest has also been discussed.
The new law will also preserve the independent nature of organisms that act as mediators.
According to the Ombudsman, the impact of the new regulations on the rights of people to basic services of general interest needs to be considered, since the position of the consumer is not the same as in a standard consumption relation. The Catalan legislature has considered this peculiarity in the Consumer Code, which gives consumers basic services a special protection.
