Minister of Consumer Protection Stefanie Hubig Pushes for Swift Implementation of Coalition Agreement’s Consumer Protection Measures
Minister of Consumer Protection Stefanie Hubig, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), has expressed her intention to swiftly implement the consumer protection measures agreed upon in the coalition agreement between the SPD and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In an interview with the Rheinische Post, Hubig emphasized that the main goal of the measures is to better protect older consumers from unexpected contract agreements, particularly in the case of longer subscription contracts.
According to Hubig, the new measures aim to ensure that consumers are only bound to a contract if they have explicitly confirmed it in writing. “We will tackle this issue quickly” she assured.
The coalition agreement had previously stated that the government would establish a comprehensive consumer protection system and introduce a general confirmation solution for telephone-based long-term contractual relationships.
In addition to the consumer protection measures, Hubig announced plans to combat the growing issue of domestic violence in Germany. The Minister of Justice plans to introduce a package of measures to counter the problem, including the use of electronic tracking devices, mandatory anti-violence training and changes to the child custody laws.
The government intends to empower family courts to order the use of electronic tracking devices, similar to the Spanish model, to protect victims of domestic violence. In this system, both the perpetrator and the victim would wear GPS devices and an alarm would be triggered if the perpetrator approaches the victim too closely, alerting both the victim and the monitoring authority.
Hubig plans to submit a corresponding bill to the German parliament this year. The Minister also announced plans to make anti-violence training mandatory and to adjust the child custody laws to ensure that family courts take domestic violence into account when making decisions on parental rights and child visitation. “It cannot be the case that a violent ex-partner is granted parental rights or visitation rights as if nothing had happened” Hubig emphasized.