ECJ (case C-372/99, Commission v. Italian Republic: Collective action under the Unfair Contract Terms Directive)

Case C-372/99 concerns an infringement procedure under Article 226 EC against the Italian Republic (hereinafter also referred to as: Italy) for failing to adopt the necessary measures to enable (consumer) organisations to prevent the use of unfair contract terms. In its ruling, the ECJ reiterated its decision in the famous Océano-case and further developed the idea that the unfairness-test in Article 3 of the Directive on Unfair Contract Terms is to be applied ex officio. Finally, it clarified that collective action may not only be undertaken against unfair contract terms that already are being used in practice, but also to prevent the future use of unfair contract terms that not have been made use of just yet.