Protecting consumers’ collective interests: how to defend your rights when a problem affects many consumers
Automatically translated summary. The full text is available in Romanian.
Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup” explains how representative actions work in the Republic of Moldova under Law No. 80/2025, which partly transposes EU Directive 2020/1828 and entered into force on 26 May 2026. The note is part of a national consumer information campaign and shows how groups of consumers can defend shared interests.
A qualified entity can go to court on behalf of many consumers to stop a harmful practice, obtain remedies, or both. This matters where each person’s loss is small, such as a monthly fee or an unclear condition, but the problem is repeated. The mechanism can also be used if the practice has already ended. It covers areas such as contracts, online commerce, product information and safety, financial services, utilities, communications and transport.
Consumers do not have to organise actions themselves. Qualified entities are officially designated, with the Ministry of Economic Development and Digitalisation acting as coordinating authority and contact point. They must be nonprofit, independent and transparent about who they are and how they are funded. Cross-border actions will apply only once the Treaty of Accession to the EU enters into force.
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