The European Committee issued a Directive for the protection of consumers from misleading advertising, fake “free” offers and aggressive selling practices. The new Unfair Commercial Practices (UCP) Directive came into force on 12.12.2007 and involves an extensive black list of schemes which are banned – targeting in particular a “dirty dozen” of some of the most abusive practices, from bait advertising, to pyramid schemes, advertorials and false curative health claims which are used against consumers. The UCP Directive substantially reinforces existing EU standards on misleading advertising and sets new EU standards against aggressive commercial practices – covering harassment, coercion, undue influence.
Source: European Committee