Citizens Advice Scotland welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation. Our response does not address every question contained in the consultation document. Rather it focuses on the aspects regarding consumer protection and whether the proposed Common European Sales Law would achieve its stated purpose with regard to consumer choice.
Citizens Advice Scotland does not believe that the Common European Sales Law (CESL) would achieve the stated aim of greater consumer choice. On the contrary, we believe that the proposal would add another layer of complexity, particular for online shoppers. This would do little to encourage confidence amongst consumers and has the potential to confuse and clutter the existing protections for consumers in Scotland.