Level of harmonisation
1. Insofar as this Directive contains harmonised provisions, Member States may not maintain or introduce in their national law provisions diverging from those laid down in this Directive unless provided otherwise in this Directive.
2. Pending further harmonisation, where a Member State makes use of the regulatory choices provided for in Article 2(5) to (8), Article 8(8), Article 14(2) and (3), Article 16(4) and (6), Article 18(11), Article 24(5), Article 25(6), Article 26(4) and (8), Article 29(4), Article 31(2), Article 32(4) and (5), Article 35(3) and (4), Article 37(3) and Article 41(9), that Member State shall notify the Commission without delay thereof, as well as of any subsequent changes. The Commission shall make that information public on a website or in another easily accessible way. Member States shall also take the appropriate measures to diffuse that information amongst national creditors, credit intermediaries and consumers.
Imperative nature of this Directive
1. Member States shall ensure that consumers may not waive the rights conferred on them by the national measures transposing this Directive.
2. Member States shall ensure that the provisions adopted in order to transpose this Directive cannot be circumvented as a result of the way in which agreements are formulated.
Penalties
1. Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented. The penalties provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Member States shall, by 20 November 2026, notify the Commission of those rules and of those measures and shall notify it, without delay, of any subsequent amendment affecting them.
2. Member States shall ensure that when penalties are to be imposed in accordance with Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2017/2394, they include the possibility either to impose fines through administrative procedures or to initiate legal proceedings for the imposition of fines, or both.
3. Member States shall provide that the competent authorities may disclose to the public any administrative penalty that is imposed for infringement of the measures adopted pursuant to this Directive, unless such disclosure would seriously jeopardise the financial markets or cause disproportionate damage to the parties involved.
Exercise of the delegation
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 30(5) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 19 November 2023. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration, unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 30(5) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.
4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.
5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 30(5) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of three months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.
Review and monitoring
1. The Commission shall undertake, by 20 November 2029 and every four years thereafter, an evaluation of this Directive. The evaluation shall include:
(a)
an assessment of whether the scope of this Directive remains appropriate in relation to credit agreements which are secured by non-residential immovable property;
(b)
an assessment of the thresholds laid down in Article 2(2), point (c), and in Part II of Annex III, and of the percentages used to calculate the compensation payable in the event of early repayment as referred to in Article 29(2), in the light of economic trends in the Union and the situation in the market concerned;
(c)
an analysis of the evolution of the market for consumer credits that support the green transition and an assessment of the need for further measures relating to such credits; and
(d)
an assessment of the implementation of Article 44(1) and (2), and in particular of the effectiveness and deterrent effect of the penalties imposed under that Article.
2. By 20 November 2025, the Commission shall assess the necessity of protecting consumers borrowing and investing via crowdfunding platforms, as defined in Article 2(1), point (d) of Regulation (EU) 2020/1503, where those platforms do not act as creditors or credit intermediaries, but facilitate the granting of credit between consumers.
3. The Commission shall, in particular, monitor the effect of the existence of the regulatory choices referred to in Article 42 on the functioning of the internal market and on consumers.
4. The Commission shall report the results of the evaluation and assessment referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 to the European Parliament and the Council, accompanied, if appropriate, by a legislative proposal.
Repeal and transitional provisions
Directive 2008/48/EC is repealed with effect from 20 November 2026.
Notwithstanding the first paragraph, Directive 2008/48/EC shall continue to apply to credit agreements existing on 20 November 2026 until their termination.
However, Articles 23 and 24, Article 25(1), second sentence, Article 25(2) and Articles 28 and 39 of this Directive shall apply to all open-end credit agreements existing on 20 November 2026.
References to the repealed Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table set out in Annex IV.
Transposition
1. Member States shall adopt and publish, by 20 November 2025, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall immediately communicate the text of those provisions to the Commission.
They shall apply those measures from 20 November 2026.
When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main measures of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
Entry into force
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
