GREECE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Dimitris Emvalomenos, Bahas, Gramatidis & Partners
Collective redress As of 26 June 2023, the EU legal landscape on collective redress, including the Greek regime previously applicable, changed following the entry into force of Directive (EU) 2020/182 “on representative actions” (RAD), which was transposed into Greek law by Law 5019/2023 ( “Law 5019” ). Law 5019 modified Greek Law 2251/1994 on “Consumers’ Protection” as in force ( “Law 2251” ) by replacing its provisions on collective lawsuits (former Article 10 of Law 2251) and providing for the issue of numer - ous Ministerial Decisions which specify various aspects of the new regulation (Article 14 of Law 2251). Representative actions may only be filed by so- called qualified entities (QEs), either: (i) Greek QEs, being consumer associations which meet legal prerequisites and are registered with a spe - cial registrar to be kept with the General Secre - tariat of Trade of the Ministry of Development; or (ii) bodies registered as QEs in other EU mem - ber states. In order to be qualified, and among other criteria imposed by Law 5019, a Greek QE must prove that it has a minimum 12-month actual public activity that benefits consumers. An assessment of whether a Greek QE meets the set criteria will be made at least every two years by the General Secretariat of Commerce of the Ministry of Development. Representative actions may regard injunc - tive and/or redress measures, and can only be brought before a court. With a few exceptions, the provisions of the RAD are followed by Law 5019 on content, proceedings and the effect of representative actions, with required adapta - tions to the Greek legal framework (new Articles 10a–10r of Law 2251). Under the regime of representative actions:
• a final decision of a Greek court or another EU court or competent authority on the exist - ence of an infringement harming the collec - tive interest of consumers can be applied by any plaintiff as evidence (based on the general Greek rules on evidence) in the con - text of any other lawsuit before a Greek court claiming a redress measure against the same supplier for the same practice, subject to the provisions on res judicata; • a court decision issued on a representative action to cease or prohibit an allegedly unlaw - ful practice has an erga omnes effect, namely an effect towards non-litigants also; and • the irrevocable court decision ordering a redress measure also favours individual consumers who had not explicitly expressed their wish to be represented (with no tacit representation possible) – such consumers may notify their claim to the supplier within the time period set by the court and, following a period of 30 days, they may resort to the General Secretariat of Trade which requests the supplier’s compliance within a five-day period – otherwise it may impose upon them the sanctions provided (new Articles 10k and 10l of Law 2251). Third-party litigation funding (TPLF) The purported EU legal framework on TPLF is expected to facilitate product liability claims in general and in particular regarding Greece lack - ing regulation today. At EU level, there is an ongoing discussion on the introduction of legislation on TPLF. On 13 Sep - tember 2022, the European Parliament passed a resolution proposing a directive “on the regu- lation of third-party funding” (P9 TA(2022)0308 “Responsible private funding of litigation” ). The European Commission agreed to perform a mapping of TPLF status in the EU after RAD
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