The ABC of Online Disclosure Duties: Towards a More Uniform Assessment of the Transparency of Consumer Information in Europe

当欧洲消费者在网上购买电脑时，欧洲立法者要求他们收到关于交易商存储、处理和共享数据的“清晰而全面”的信息（欧洲隐私指令）。随后，他们需要以“清晰易懂的语言”收到关于购买条件的“清晰易懂”的信息，例如他们的撤销权或计算机的特性（消费者权利指令）。此外，如果他们以信贷方式购买电脑，他们需要收到有关信贷条款（消费者信贷指令）的“清晰而简明”的信息。尽管欧盟法律要求这样的信息披露必须透明，但它并没有规定什么是清晰、全面、可理解或简明的在线披露。由于它没有提供评估透明度的标准，它留下了一个空白，国家执法机构（NEA）可能会以不同的方式填补。本研究旨在为NEA统一评估披露透明度制定欧洲准则。这将使整个欧盟的企业能够标准化和简化他们的披露，并更有效地告知消费者。我们的研究团队将根据以下研究得出的见解起草这些指导方针：-比较法律研究，说明特定的披露目前何时被NEA评估为透明；-实证法律研究，确定透明度评估所需和适用的标准。

When European consumers buy, e.g., a computer online, the European legislator requires them to receive "clear and comprehensive" information about the trader's option to store, process and share their data (ePrivacy Directive). Subsequently, they need to receive "clear and comprehensible" information "in clear and intelligible language" on the purchase conditions, such as their right of withdrawal or the computer´s characteristics (Consumer Rights Directive). Moreover, if they purchase the computer on credit, they need to receive "clear and concise" information on the credit terms (Consumer Credit Directive). Although EU law requires information disclosures like these to be transparent, it does not establish what counts as clear, comprehensive, intelligible or concise online disclosure. As it provides no yardstick for assessing transparency, it leaves a gap that national enforcement authorities (NEA) may fill differently.This research aims to develop European guidelines that NEA should apply to uniformly assess the transparency of disclosures. This will allow businesses across the EU to standardise and simplify their disclosures and inform consumers more effectively. Our research team will draft these guidelines on the basis of insights gained from conducting:- comparative legal research illustrating when a given disclosure is currently assessed as transparent by NEA; - empirical legal research determining the desired and applied criteria for the transparency's assessment.