The transposition of the EU Consumer Protection Directives in Maltese law : a study under twenty headings

Abstract

When Malta applied for membership in 1990, both EU consumer law and Maltese consumer law were in their infancy and in a state of evolution. In

late 1998, the European Commission allowed Malta to re-ignite its accession application, which had been suspended by the new incoming Labour

party government in 1996. As a result, Malta had to start in earnest and haste the negotiation and transposition of an extensive compendium of

Directives, decisions and other measures comprised in 29 of the 32 chapters into which the acquis commimautaire was conveniently arranged for

accession purposes. The other three chapters were institutional and were not negotiable or transposable. A chapter of EU law dealt with consumer protection, and most of the measures were in the form of minimum directives. 1 New important measures were being adopted at Union (at that time Community) level even while the island's accession procedures were slowly progressing. The directives which required transposition by Malta before accession are listed in Table 6.1 below. While retaining its primary focus on the measures comprised in this Consumer Protection chapter of EU law, this study makes several references to other consumer measures which might arise from other parts and chapters of the acquis. The reference to Metrology under section 15 of this chapter is a case in point.