Abstract:

On the 21^th of October 2011, The European Commission launched a news release expressing  its concern about the vulnerability of small businesses operating in other EU countries confronting with unfair traders who resort to fraudulent practices. The Commission observed that daily enterprises established in the European Union, professionals and civil society organizations became victims of a misleading advertising. Most often, this is the consequence of the exploitation of the normative gaps by the unfair traders. Most of the times the victim companies do not inform against the fraudulent practices either because the lack of time or they do not know the sanctioning procedure.

The European Union legislation on misleading and comparative advertising (Directive 2006/114/EC of 12 December 2006) includes a minimum set of rules that protect traders against misleading advertising. The Directive particularly points out that distortions of the competition derive as consequence of a misleading and unlawful comparative advertising. Unlawful advertising may also affect the traders’ economical situation. In Romanian Law, Directive 2006/114/EC was transposed by Law no. 158 of 18 July 2008 concerning misleading and comparative advertising.