TFL Vsebine / Pravni letopis

Politika varstva potrošnikov v EU temelji na logiki, da je potrošnik šibkejša pogodbena stranka, ki potrebuje posebno varstvo. Pri razmerjih na spletu ni vedno jasno, kdo je šibkejša stran, ki potrebuje zaščito. Posledično se pojavi vprašanje, ali je klasična binarna delitev na potroš nika in trgovca še vedno ustrezna za opredelitev potrošnika v posameznem pogodbenem razmerju v digitalnem okolju, v katerem je meja med trgovcem in potrošnikom pogosto zabrisana. Prispevek obravnava tri zadeve, v katerih je odločalo ali še odloča Sodišče EU o statusu potrošnika kot uporabnika spletnih storitev. Zadeva Schrems se nanaša na status potrošnika v okviru pogodbe, sklenjene za uporabo spletnega družbenega omrežja, torej za daljše časovno obdobje. Zadevi Kamenova in Personal Exchange Information pa obravnavata dobičkonosno dejavnost posameznikov na spletu – spletno prodajo in igranje spletnih iger na srečo. Te zadeve nazorno prikažejo, da je uporaba klasične binarne delitve na trgovca in potrošnika v digitalnem okolju otežena. Za presojo statusa potrošnika v konkretni zadevi je ključnega pomena sodna praksa Sodišča EU, saj je to edino pristojno za razlago avtonomnih pojmov prava EU, kot je tudi pojem potrošnika.

EU consumer protection policy is based on the logic that the consumer is a weaker contracting party in need of special protection. In online relationships, it is not always clear who is the weaker party that needs protection. Consequently, the question arises as to whether the classical binary division between consumer and trader is still appropriate to define the consumer in a digital environment in which the boundary between trader and consumer is often blurred. The article deals with three cases in which the Court of Justice of the EU has ruled or is still ruling on the status of the consumer as a user of e­services. The Schrems case concerns the status of a consumer as a user of an online social network, i.e. for a longer period of time. The Kamenova and Personal Exchange Information cases, on the other hand, relate to the lucrative activity of individuals online – online sales and online gambling. These cases clearly illustrate the challenging use of the classical binary division between trader and consumer in the digital environment. The case law of the Court of Justice of the EU is crucial for assessing the status of the consumer in a specific case, as the Court of Justice of the EU has sole jurisdiction to interpret autonomous concepts of EU law, including the notion of “consumer”.

Consumer as a user of e-services