EU CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE CIVIL PROCEEDING

The consumer protection is one of the priorities of the EU internal market.The pressure on the growth of the competitiveness motivates some businessmen to useunfair practices especially against those, who are usually not informed on the marketsituation very well. Therefore the EU law maker adopted the minimum standard of theconsumer protection, which is valid in all EU member states. The Council Directive93/13/EEC names some terms used in the consumer contracts, which could beconsidered as unfair. If there is a proof of their unfair character, it is the role of thenational courts to ensure these terms are not binding on the consumers. The Court ofJustice of the EU asks the national courts to take into account the unfair terms of theconsumer contracts by virtue of office. The Slovak execution courts misuse this powerwhen stopping the proceeding due to pure existence of an arbitration clause in aconsumer contract.