Citation[]
European Commission, 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 (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive) (UCPD) (full-text).
Overview[]
The Directive aims at protecting consumers from unfair practices which are likely to induce a transactional decision which they would otherwise not have taken. Common rules and principles provide consumers with protection against[unfair practices whether they are buying from their corner shop or purchasing from a website based abroad. Businesses can advertise and market to all consumers in the EU, in the same way as to their domestic customers.
Online gambling[]
Although the UCPD is without prejudice to authorization regimes such as the rules related to gambling activities, advertising and marketing practices fall within its scope. As a consequence, gambling advertising falls foul of the Directive if it is contrary to the requirements of professional diligence and if it is distorting the economic behavior of the average customer or a clearly identifiable group with an underlying vulnerability, e.g. minors, where the gambling provider can reasonably expect such a distortion. The UCPD bans in particular misleading and aggressive commercial practices.
Source[]
- Staff Working Document Accompanying the Green Paper on On-line Gambling in the Internal Market, at 15 (used in "Online gambling" section).