1.3. The relationship between the UCPD and self-regulation

COMMISSION NOTICE – Guidance on the interpretation and application of Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market · European Union

The UCPD recognises the importance of self-regulation mechanisms and clarifies the role that code owners and self-regulatory bodies can play in enforcement. Member States may encourage code owners to check for unfair commercial practices, in addition to enforcing the UCPD. When the rules in self-regulatory codes are strict and rigorously applied by code owners and/or vigourously enforced by independent self-regulatory bodies, they may indeed reduce the need for administrative or judicial enforcement action. Moreover, when the standards are high and industry operators largely comply with them, such rules may be a useful reference point for national authorities and courts in assessing whether a commercial practice is unfair. The UCPD contains several provisions which prevent traders from unduly exploiting the trust which consumers may have in self-regulatory codes. This is discussed in section 2.8.4 on non-compliance with codes of conduct.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.