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Information Obligations and Disinformation of Consumers pp 237–273Cite as

Information Obligations and Disinformation of Consumers: Greek Law Report

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Part of the book series: Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law ((GSCL,volume 33))

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the basic principles and legal provisions regarding consumer protection in Greece. Greek consumer protection law is heavily influenced by European law and significant similarities to other Member-states’ legislation are evident. The main focus of this chapter falls on the evaluation of General Transaction Terms, which are found in most commercial contracts and are rarely negotiated over with consumers, as they apply on a “take-it-or-leave-it” basis. Pre-contractual information duties of the seller and the rights of consumers vis-à-vis sellers arise both from sector-specific legislation as the Civil Code. Another significant aspect of Greek law is the protection of consumers against unfair and misleading commercial practices, whereas of particular interest are especially vulnerable consumer categories. Specific legal provisions apply to financial contracts concluded over distance, such as loan agreements or insurance policies, thereby granting consumers of said products a heightened level of protection. As distance contracts are now dominated by the use of the Internet, a targeted regulatory framework for “digital consumers” is required.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See the Table, Annex A at the end.

  2. 2.

    See also the Supreme Civil Court—Plenary (Areios Pagos) Decision no. 13/2015, where the Court ruled that guarantors are considered consumers when assuming a guarantee in favour of a borrowing natural or legal person, as long as the latter is the final recipient of the loan (and thus a consumer) and the former is not acting in a professional capacity.

  3. 3.

    See Supreme the Civil Court Decisions no. 13/2015, 1738/2009, 16/2009 and 989/2004.

  4. 4.

    See the Athens Multi-Member Court of First Instance Decisions no. 5726/1960, and 3359/2003.

  5. 5.

    See the Athens Court of Appeal Decision no. 1159/2012.

  6. 6.

    According to the European Commission (2009), “…The reasons mentioned by Article 5 as the basis to establish the vulnerability of a specific category of consumers are listed indicatively and cover a wide range of situations”.

  7. 7.

    See the Greek Supreme Civil Court Decision 1028/2015.

  8. 8.

    See, for instance, the Greek Supreme Civil Court Decision no. 24/2016, Patras Multi-member Court of First Instance Decision no. 244/2015.

  9. 9.

    For instance, Article 3B: “…the supplier provides the consumer, in a clear and understandable manner, with the following information”; Article 4H par. 3: “…the consumer must be informed by distance communication means in an explicit and understandable way, heeding the principles of good faith in commercial transactions and the provisions for the validity of juridical acts, for the following aspects, the commercial purpose of which must be expressed clearly”, etc.

  10. 10.

    See the Supreme Court Decision no. 1435/2015.

  11. 11.

    Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No. 1924/2006 and (EC) No. 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004 Text with EEA relevance, OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, pp. 18–63.

  12. 12.

    Regulation (EU) No. 1169/2011, Recital 9.

  13. 13.

    The National Medical Organization regulates food supplements and dietetic foods.

  14. 14.

    Recital 4, Regulation 1169/2011.

  15. 15.

    Recital 20, op.cit.

  16. 16.

    Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market, OJ L 149, 11.6.2005, p. 22.

  17. 17.

    I.e., the natural or legal persons responsible for ensuring that the requirements of food law are met within the food business under their control (definition of Article 3 par. 3 of Regulation 178/2002).

  18. 18.

    Defined as information concerning a food and made available to the final consumer by means of a label, other accompanying material, or any other means including modern technology tools or verbal communication (Article 2 par. 2a of Regulation 1169/2011).

  19. 19.

    Article 9 par. 1 of Regulation 1169/2011.

  20. 20.

    Article 7 par. 4(b) of Regulation 1169/2011.

  21. 21.

    Article 36 of Regulation 1169/2011.

  22. 22.

    As in detail above, Sect. 2.2.3.

  23. 23.

    The requirements in this part should be viewed as exclusive and not indicative.

  24. 24.

    A commercial practice is considered misleading if, in its real context, considering all its characteristics and the circumstances, as well as the restrictions of a specific means of communication, it omits essential information needed by the consumer, depending on the specific framework, to make a well-founded transaction decision, and therefore it leads or may lead the average consumer to make a transaction decision which he would not make otherwise.

  25. 25.

    Such a contractual term endangers the contract’s equilibrium, as it has been pre-drafted by the supplier and constitutes a means that significantly neutralizes the consumer’s negotiation flexibility and its ability to overturn, however the chance of the supplier investing time and effort in drafting those terms in their own favor, in comparison to GTTs, is reduced.

  26. 26.

    Such are cases where the supplier suggests a term and the consumer readily accepts its inclusion in the contract. Even though judicial control is extended to such terms (as also determined in Article 3 par. 1 of Directive 93/13/EEC), there is no presumption of the consumer’s lack of negotiating self-determination.

  27. 27.

    The consumer’s ability is considered both objectively, by taking into account the location of the parties, the duration of the negotiations, the complexity of the transaction, the foreseeability of legal consequences, as well as subjectively, by regarding the consumer’s experience, the type of the transaction, the parties’ literacy and education, their age, their lack of knowledge of the technical language etc.; see Dellios, supra fn. 47, pp. 110–111, who further distinguishes between “the ability to negotiate” and “the lack of influence in the terms’ content”.

  28. 28.

    In the case of terms under (b), their exceptional nature and the reduced chance of deteriorating the consumer’s position should be treated differently both materially, by applying the provisions of the GrCC (Articles 174, 178, 179), and procedurally, by placing the burden of proof on the consumer, as the opposite would amount to a breach of basic principles of civil procedural law.

  29. 29.

    See the Greek Supreme Civil Court Decision no. 1219/2001and the Greek Council of State Decision no. 1210/2010.

  30. 30.

    See Jean-Claude Van Hove v. CNP Assurances SA, C-96/14, ECLI:EU:C:2015:262; Kásler et Káslerné Rábai, C-26/13, EU:C:2014:282; Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid, C-484/08, EU:C:2010:309; Matei, C-143/13, EU:C:2015:127.

  31. 31.

    Matei, C-143/13, EU:C:2015:127, par. 54.

  32. 32.

    See the Greek Supreme Civil Court Decisions no. 15/2007, 7/2011, 1001/2010, 1495/2006, Thessaloniki Court of Appeal Decision no. 312/2010, Athens Magistrate Court Decisions no. 4052/2009, and 1335/2009.

  33. 33.

    See Greek Supreme Civil Court Decision no. 1030/2001, Dikaio Epichiriseon & Eterion 2001, p. 1126.

  34. 34.

    See the Greek Supreme Civil Court Decisions no. 652/2010, 430/2005, 1101/2004, 1011/2004, 1030/2001; Thessaloniki Court of Appeal Decision no. 6547/2009; Athens Court of Appeal Decisions no. 3210/2008, and 5253/2003; Thessaloniki Multi-Member Court of First Instance Decisions no. 1213/2016 and 353/2016.

  35. 35.

    See Jean-Claude Van Hove v. CNP Assurances SA, C-96/14, ECLI:EU:C:2015:262, par. 40,41; Bogdan Matei και Ioana Ofelia Matei v. SC Volksbank România SA, ECLI:EU:C:2015:127, C-143/13, par. 70 ff.

  36. 36.

    See Greek Supreme Civil Court Decision no. 652/2010.

  37. 37.

    First and foremost Article 4I of the Law, which governs financial services contracts concluded by distance.

  38. 38.

    Regulation (EU) No. 600/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Regulation (EU) No. 648/2012 Text with EEA relevance.

  39. 39.

    MiFID II (Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU Text with EEA relevance) has not yet, at the time of writing, been transposed in Greek Law.

  40. 40.

    As to the minimum requirements, see Articles 3-26 of Commission Regulation (EC) No. 809/2004 of 29 April 2004 implementing Directive 2003/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards information contained in prospectuses as well as the format, incorporation by reference and publication of such prospectuses and dissemination of advertisements.

  41. 41.

    Directive 2008/48/EC, Article 5; Ministerial Decision D Z1-699/2010, Article 5.

  42. 42.

    Article 1 of Regulation No. 1/1999 of the HDPA.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Kapodistrias University of Athens, Law School, Athens, Greece

    Antonios G. Karampatzos & Charalampos A. Kotios

Authors
  1. Antonios G. Karampatzos
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Law, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

    Gert Straetmans

Annex: Main Greek Legislation

Annex: Main Greek Legislation

Greek Legislation (Government Gazette no.)

Incorporating EU Legislation (if any)

Greek Code of Foodstuffs, Beverages and Objects of Common Use (788/Β’/31.12.87)

 

Law 2251/1994 (Α’ 191/16.11.1994)

Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts

Law 2496/1997 (A’ 87/16.05.1997)

 

Presidential Decree 131/2003 (B’ 116/16.05.2003)

Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market

Law 3340/2005 (A’ 257/17.10.2005)

Directive 2010/73/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 amending Directives 2003/71/EC on the prospectus to be published when securities are offered to the public or admitted to trading and 2004/109/EC on the harmonization of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market Text with EEA relevance

Law 3587/2007 (Α’ 152/10.07.2007)

Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’)

Law 3606/2007 (A’ 195/17.08.2007)

Directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on markets in financial instruments amending Council Directives 85/611/EEC and 93/6/EEC and Directive 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 93/22/EEC

Law 3844/2010 (Α’ 63/3.5.2010)

Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market

Ministerial Decision Z1-699/2010 (B’ 917/23.06.2010)

Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC

Law 4070/2012 (A’ 82/10.04.2012)

Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 amending Directive 2002/22/EC on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks and services, Directive 2002/58/EC concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws

Ministerial Decision Z1-891/2013 (Β’ 2144/30.8.2013)

Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

Law 4438/2016 (A’ 220/28.11.2016)

Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 February 2014 on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 Text with EEA relevance

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Karampatzos, A.G., Kotios, C.A. (2019). Information Obligations and Disinformation of Consumers: Greek Law Report. In: Straetmans, G. (eds) Information Obligations and Disinformation of Consumers. Ius Comparatum - Global Studies in Comparative Law, vol 33. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18054-6_6

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