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EU May Make It Easier for Consumers to Sue Companies
The European Union has proposed a plan to give consumers greater power to sue companies through U.S.-style class-action lawsuits, Reuters reports.
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The European Union has proposed a plan to give consumers greater power to sue companies through U.S.-style class-action lawsuits, Reuters reports.
The legislation also would give national consumer protection agencies the ability to impose tougher penalties on companies that cheat. “I cannot be cheap to cheat,” declares EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova.
Jourova has been pushing for tougher rules since Volkswagen AG admitted in 2015 that it had rigged 8.5 million of its diesels to evade emission laws. She has advocated that VW should pay affected customers in the same way the company has handled owners in the U.S.
Jourova notes that European authorities have so far fined VW a mere €5.5 million ($6.8 million) for its wrongdoing. In the U.S., VW has agreed to pay $20 billion in fines and restitution for the 555,000 rigged diesels it sold there.
The proposed new legal rules await approval from member countries and the European Parliament. Reuters notes that judges and national agencies ultimately will determine how aggressively the rules are applied, if adopted at all.
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