GUIDELINES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CONSUMER CROSS-BORDER ADR ORGANIZATION IN THE EU, ICELAND AND NORWAY

Abstract

In May 2013 a directive on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for consumer disputes was adopted by the European Union (EU). The directive declares a necessity for all EU Member States to secure the creation of a residual ADR organization that deals with disputes for the resolution of which no other specific ADR organization is competent in order to ensure full sectoral and geographical coverage by and access to ADR organizations.
This research reveals that in order to fulfil the European Commission (EC) requirements, at least 72 % of the EU Member States will have to create a new ADR organization or reorganize their existing ones. However, the directive does not specify what types of ADR organizations are desired or which of them work best. Therefore in this article some guidelines for the establishment of a consumer cross-border ADR organization will be developed. The aim of the guidelines is to propose the framework of an ADR organization that would successfully solve consumer disputes, including cross-border disputes, and thus, increase the consumers' confidence in turning for help in these organizations.