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2020 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts in Spain

verfasst von : Francisco de Elizalde

Erschienen in: Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts

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Abstract

The control of standard terms implies a significant inroad into classic contract theory as the fairness assessment moves from formation (procedural justice) to the content of contracts (substantial justice). When it comes to price terms, the challenge faces freedom of contracts and competition—two sources of undoubted interest for academics and practitioners. The chapter aims to present the status of the control of price related terms in Spanish law. It includes an introduction to the validity of standard form contracts in general and an analysis of content control in B2C contracts as the more far-reaching one. The assessment is not limited to statutory controls. Judicial activism has been significant in this field, as case law has defined unfairness criteria for specific types of contracts and ancillary terms. Additionally, courts have increasingly resorted to the requirement of transparency to control main price terms. The contours of the assessment of non-transparent terms and its consequences are not entirely defined nor homogenous, which brings about a relevant issue of legal certainty.

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Vorheriges Kapitel Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts in South Africa

Nächstes Kapitel Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts in Switzerland—The Control of Standard Contracts Terms: The Swiss Approach

See Díez-Picazo (1991), pp. 430–432.

Art 7 Spanish Cc.

Art 1091 Spanish Cc.

Art 1291 Spanish Cc. Although some regional systems of private law in Spain, such as that of Catalonia or Navarre have a broader recognition of laesio (Arts 499–507 of the Fuero Nuevo in Navarre; Arts 321–325 of the old Compilación catalana and Arts 621-45 to 621-48 of the Catalan Civil Code, the validity of which has been challenged in court, and is currently under the review of the Spanish Constitutional Court, Recurso de inconstitucionalidad 2557-2017).

Among many others, STS 10 May 2001 (ES:TS:2001:3809).

Ley 7/1998, de 13 de abril, sobre Condiciones Generales de la Contratación, BOE nr 89 of 14 April 1998 (Standard Contract Terms Act).

STS 3 June 2016 (ES:TS:2016:2550).

Miquel (2002), p. 433.

Art 8 Standard Contract Terms Act.

Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts, OJ 1993, L 95/29.

Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2007, de 16 de noviembre, por el que se aprueba el texto refundido de la Ley General para la Defensa de los Consumidores y Usuarios y otras leyes complementarias, BOE nr 287 of 30 November 2007 (Consumer Protection Act).

In respect of this policy approach, see Micklitz (2008), pp. 33–34.

Art 83 Consumer Protection Act.

Arts 82.4 et seq. Consumer Protection Act.

For example, Art 86.3 Consumer Protection Act lists as unfair the assignment of the contract to a third party, by the business, only if it is capable of diminishing the rights of the consumer.

Cámara Lapuente (2011), pp. 832–834.

In the context of unfair terms, Art 12 Standard Contract Terms Act. In general, Art 11 Civil Procedure Act.

Art 221.1.2ª Ley 1/2000, de 7 de enero, de Enjuiciamiento Civil, BOE nr 7 of 8 January 2000 (Civil Procedure Act). See Tapia Fernández (2011), pp. 1090–1094; Armenta Deu (2013), pp. 90–93.

CJEU Judgment of 29 November 2016, Sales Sinués, C-381/14 and C-385/14, EU:C:2016:252.

CJEU Judgment of 29 November 2016, Sales Sinués, C-381/14 and C-385/14, EU:C:2016:252, paras 37, 39 and 43.

SSTS 24 February 2017 (ES:TS:2017:477), 25 May 2017 (ES:TS:2017:2016) and 6 June 2017 (ES:TS:2017:2249) do not extend the effects that were not entirely favourable to consumers. STS 8 June 2017 (ES:TS:2017:2244), instead, considers that the favourable effects should be extended to individual proceedings.

Art 84 Consumer Protection Act. This Registry is voluntary for businesses who may register their standard form contracts (Art 11 Standard Contracts Act). Additionally, it keeps record of judicial decisions against standard terms. Its use has been heavily debated and has, in practice, no influence on judicial rulings.

Miquel (2011), pp. 774–781.

Ley de 23 de julio de 1908, de la usura, Gaceta Oficial 24 July 1908 (Usury Act).

In respect of incidental fraud and non-transparent standard terms see Pantaleón Prieto (2017).

Arts 5 and 7 Standard Contract Terms Act.

Art 10.2 Standard Contract Terms Act.

CJEU Judgment of 14 June 2012, Banco Español de Crédito, C618/10, EU:C:2012:349, para 73. Banco Español made clear that a national court cannot fill in the gap that is left by an unfair term that is declared ‘non-binding’ (Art 6 Directive 93/13/EEC).

This is a controversial historical term that the CJEU has adopted in respect of the Directive 93/13/EEC. See CJEU Judgment of 3 June 2010, Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Madrid, C-484/08, EU:C:2010:309, para 34; CJEU Judgment of 30 April 2014, Kásler and Káslerné Rábai, C-26/13, EU:2014:282, para 46; CJEU Judgment of 20 September 2017, Andriciuc and others, C-186/16, EU:2017:703, para 35.

Alfaro (2002), pp. 129–130.

CJEU Caja de Ahorros (n 29), para 42.

STS 9 May 2013, ES:TS:2013:1916.

CJEU Judgment of 26 April 2010, Invitel, C-472/10, EU:C:2012:242, para 23.

CJEU Kásler (n 29), paras 57–58.

CJEU Judgment of 26 February 2015, Matei, C-143/13, EU:C:2015:127, paras 57 and 64.

CJEU Judgment of 23 April 2015, Van Hove, C-96/14, EU:C:2015:262, para 33.

CJEU Andriciuc (n 29), para 38.

Cámara Lapuente (2019).

CJEU Kásler (n 29), para 69; CJEU Matei (n 35), para 73.

CJEU Judgment of 21 March 2013, RWE Vertrieb, C-92/11, EU:C:2013:180, para 44; CJEU Kásler (n 29), paras 71–75; CJEU Matei (n 35), para 73; CJEU Judgment of 9 July 2015, Bucura, C-348-14, EU:C:2015:447, para 54; CJEU Andriciuc (n 29), para 45.

CJEU RWE Vertrieb (n 40), para 50.

CJEU Kásler (n 29), paras 71–75.

ES:TS:2013:1916.

Art 83 Consumer Protection Act and Art 1303 Spanish Civil code.

www.elmundo.es/economia/2016/12/21/585a81d3268e3ef0328b45a2.html. Page consulted July 25, 2017.

CJEU RWE Vertrieb (n 40), paras 50–64.

ES:TS:2015:1280.

For a criticism of this understanding of good faith, in the context of floor clauses, see de Elizalde (2015), p. 186.

CJEU Judgment of 21 December 2017, Gutiérrez Naranjo, C-154/15, C-307/15 and C-308/15, EU:C:2016:980. See the case note by Leskinen and de Elizalde (2018). Other two requests for a preliminary ruling had been submitted to the CJEU on floor clauses but were withdrawn after the decision on Gutiérrez Naranjo. These were CJEU Judgment of 23 January 2017, Rodríguez Sánchez, C-381/15, EU:C:2017:69; and CJEU Judgment of 23 January 2017, Banco Popular Español, C-349/15, EU:C:2017:68.

Ebers (2008), pp. 201–202; Durovic (2016), p. 179.

COM (2000) 248 final, “Report from the Commission on the implementation of Council Directive 93/13/EEC, of 5 April 1993, on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts”, pp. 18–19.

CJEU Judgment of 16 November 2010, Pohotovosť, C-76/10, EU:C:2010:685, para 73; CJEU Judgment of 15 March 2012, Pereničová and Perenič, C-453/10, EU:C:2012:144, paras 44–47.

CJEU Matei (n 35), para 72. The CJEU gave clear indications in the sense that the controverted terms did not fall within Art. 4(2) Directive 93/13/EEC (para 71). However, as it is for the referring court to verify this, the CJEU reasoned upon Art. 4(2) Directive 93/13/EEC, in case the national court were to decide that the terms defined the subject matter of the contract or were related to the adequacy of the price and the service given in exchange. It was in this context where transparency was linked with unfairness.

CJEU Bucura (n. 40), paras 50 and 62. Although there is no official translation into English of the case, we find ‘should’ to be an adequate translation from the French ‘est tenue de’. The Romanian version of the judgment (the other one available) reinforces this interpretation.

There is no reference to Case C-348/14, Bucura, in the entire decision. However, the Advocate General Mengozzi made reference to it in his Opinion (paras 48–49). Additionally, a footnote in the Opinion (n 45) stated that essential obligations of the contract, if not transparent, are subject to an unfairness assessment.

CJEU Gutiérrez Naranjo (n. 49), para 75.

ES:TS:2017:477.

Three SSTS of 20 April 2017 (ES:TS:2017:1498, ES:TS:2017:1499, and ES:TS:2017:1501).

Cámara Lapuente (2017), pp. 1784–1786.

STS 9 May 2013, ES:TS:2013:1916 [210] & [253].

ES:TS:2017:788.

ES:TS:2017:2244.

The Supreme Court still distinguishes the transparency control from the assessment of a vice of consent. However, it decides that the circumstances of a particular consumer should be taken into consideration to determine if it has understood the legal and economic consequences of the contract. Therefore, it is not the criterion of an average consumer the lenses to analyse those circumstances but those of the consumer-party to the contract.

CJEU Kásler (n 29), para 74; CJEU Andriciuc (n. 29), para 47.

ES:TS:2015:1723.

Besides a statutory interest as from the judgment, not from default.

CJEU Banco Español de Crédito (n. 28), para 73.

ES:TS:2015:3828 and ES:TS:2015:3829, respectively.

See Sect. 6.2.3.

ES:TS:2015:5618.

SSTS (3°) 21 November 2018 (ES:TS:2018:3885), 20 January 2004 (ES:TS:2004:159), 20 June 2004 (ES:TS:2004:4976) and 31 October 2006 (ES:TS:2006:7141). See Zumaquero Gil (2018), pp. 150–155.

ES:TS:2018:848.

Ley de 23 de julio de 1908, de la Usura, Gaceta Oficial 24 July 1908 (Usury act).

Art 1 adds more requirements but these have been considered sufficient for the rule to apply. See STS 25 November 2015 (ES:TS:2015:4810).

See STS 25 November 2015 (ES:TS:2015:4810). The decision ruled that an interest rate of 24.6 per cent, which exceeded the double of the medium interest rate used in the market, was considerably higher than the normal price of money.

In respect of the latter, see SSTS 4 November 2010 (ES:TS:2010:6062), 29 December 2010 (ES:TS:2010:7551), 2 March 2011 (ES:TS:2011:1244) and 11 February 2015 (ES:TS:2015:278). Further details may be found in Cámara Lapuente (2011), pp. 881–889.

Cámara Lapuente (2011), p. 896.

Currently enshrined in Orden EHA/2899/2011, de 28 de octubre, de transparencia y protección del cliente de servicios bancarios, BOE nr 261 of 29 October 2011. It replaced older provisions.

Cámara Lapuente (2011), pp. 898–899.

See, among others, CJEU Judgment of 14 March 2013, Aziz, C-415/11, EU:C:2013:164; CJEU Judgment of 5 July 2014, Sánchez Morcillo and Abril García, C-169/14, EU:C:2014:2099; CJEU Judgment of 21 January 2015, Unicaja Banco and Caixabank, C-482/13, C-484/13, C-485/13 and C-487/13, EU:C:2015:21; CJEU Gutiérrez Naranjo (n 49).

Ley 1/2013, de 14 de mayo, de medidas para reforzar la protección a los deudores hipotecarios, reestructuración de deuda y alquiler social, BOE nr 116 of 15 May 2013 (Law 1/2013).

Decreto de 8 de febrero de 1946, por el que se aprueba la nueva redacción oficial de la Ley Hipotecaria, BOE nr 58 of 27 February 1946 (Mortgage Act).

Respectively, CJEU Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBBVA) (n 49), para 45; CJEU Unicaja Banco and Caixabank (n 80), para 39.

ES:TS:2015:5618 and ES:TS:2016:626.

ES:TS:2016:2401.

See Sect. 5.1.

ES:TS:2017:785A.

CJEU Judgment of 7 August 2018, Banco Santander, C-96/16 and C-94/17, EU:C:2018:643.

CJEU Banco Santander (n 88), paras 69–71.

CJEU Banco Santander (n 88), paras 74–76.

Art 18 of Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC, OJ 2008, L 133/66.

Art 20.4 of Ley 16/2011, de 24 de junio, de contratos de crédito al consumo, BOE nr 151 of 25 June 2011 (Consumer Credit Act), and Art 89.7 Consumer Protection Act.

See Pertíñez Vílchez (2011), pp. 815–818.

See Sect. 5.1.

See, for instance, SAP Málaga 7 February 2017, ES:AMPA:2017:174.

Real Decreto-ley 11/2015, de 2 de octubre, para regular las comisiones por la retirada de efectivo en los cajeros automáticos, BOE nr 237 of 3 October 2015.

Arts 3 and 4 of Regulation (EU) 2015/75 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2015 on interchange fees for card-based payment transactions, OJ 2015, L123/1.

Art 6a of Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 laying down measures concerning open internet access and amending Directive 2002/22/EC on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks and services and Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union, OJ 2015, L 310/1.

(n.91).

100

Art 4 of Orden EHA/2899/2011 (n 78); Art 14 of Ley 2/2009, de 31 de marzo, por la que se regula la contratación con los consumidores de préstamos o créditos hipotecarios y de servicios de intermediación para la celebración de contratos de préstamo o crédito, BOE nr 79 of 1 April 2009.

101

Arts 3 and 7 of Order EHA/2899/2011 (n 78); Art 14 of Ley 2/2009 (n 100).

102

Art 12 of Order EHA/2899/2011 (n 78).

103

Art 8.3 of Order EHA/2899/2011 (n 78).

104

Art 20.1.c. transposed Art. 7.4.c of Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, OJ 2005, L 149/22.

105

Art 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 September 2008 on common rules for the operation of air services in the Community, OJ 2008, L293/3. Other important pieces of EU law have not yet been transposed into Spanish law. Among them, the Payment Accounts Directive (Directive 2014/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on the comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to payment accounts with basic features, OJ 2014, L257/214), and the Mortgage Credit Directive (Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 February 2014 on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, OJ 2014, L60/34).

106

See, in respect of ancillary terms STS 2 March 2011 (ES:TS:2011:1244) and, as regards main price terms, STS 9 May 2013 (ES:TS:2013:1916).

107

Fouillée (1885), p. 410.

Alfaro J (2002) Art 1. In: Menéndez A, Díez-Picazo L (eds) Comentarios a la Ley sobre Condiciones Generales de la Contratación. Civitas, Madrid, pp 97–141

Armenta Deu T (2013) Acciones colectivas: reconocimiento, cosa juzgada y ejecución. Marcial Pons, Madrid

Cámara Lapuente S (2011) Art 86. In: Cámara Lapuente S (ed) Comentarios a las normas de protección de los consumidores. Colex, Madrid, pp 829–870

Cámara Lapuente S (2017) Las (seis) SS.T.S. posteriores a la S.T.J.U.E. 21 diciembre 2016. El control de transparencia sigue en construcción, muta y mutará aún más: hacia la transparencia subjetiva. (Comentario a las SS.T.S. de 24 de febrero 2017, 9 marzo 2017, 20 abril 2017 y 25 mayo 2017). Boletín del Colegio de Registradores de España 42:1770–1790

Cámara Lapuente S (2019) Control of price related terms in standard form contract in EU. The Innovative Role of the CJEU’s Case-law in the Review of Price-related Terms in Standard Form Contract. In: Atamer YM, Pichonnaz P (eds), Control of price related terms in standard form contracts. Springer, Cham.

de Elizalde F (2015) The rain in Spain does not stay in the plain – or how the Spanish Supreme Court Ruling of 25 March 2015, on minimum interest rate clauses, affects European Consumers. J Eur Consumer Market Law 5:184–187

Díez-Picazo L (1991) Art 1255. In: Paz-Ares C, Díez-Picazo L, Bercovitz R, Salvador P (eds) Comentario del Código Civil, vol II-I. Ministerio de Justicia, Madrid, pp 430–432

Durovic M (2016) European law on unfair commercial practices and contract law. Hart, Oxford

Ebers M (2008) Unfair contract terms directive (93/13). In: Schulte-Nölke H, Twigg-Flesner C, Ebers M (eds) EC consumer law compendium. The consumer acquis and its transposition in the member states. Sellier, Munich, pp 197–261

Fouillée A (1885) La science sociale contemporaine. Hachette, Paris

Leskinen C, de Elizalde F (2018) The control of terms that define the essential obligations of the parties under the unfair contract terms directive. Common Market Law Rev 55:1595–1618CrossRef

Micklitz H (2008) Some reflections on Cassis de Dijon and the control of unfair contract terms in consumer contracts. In: Collins H (ed) Standard contract terms in Europe. A basis for and a challenge to European contract law. Kluwer, Alphen aan den Rijn, pp 19–42

Miquel JM (2002) Art 8. In: Menéndez A, Díez-Picazo L (eds) Comentarios a la Ley sobre Condiciones Generales de la Contratación. Civitas, Madrid, pp 428–482

Miquel JM (2011) Art 84. In: Cámara Lapuente S (ed) Comentarios a las normas de protección de los consumidores. Colex, Madrid, pp 768–788

Pantaleón Prieto F (2017) 10 tesis sobre la falta de transparencia de las cláusulas referidas a los elementos esenciales del contrato. Almacén de Derecho, 12 March 2017. http://almacendederecho.org/10-tesis-la-falta-transparencia-las-clausulas-referidas-los-elementos-esenciales-del-contrato/

Pertíñez Vílchez F (2011) Art 85. In: Cámara Lapuente S (ed) Comentarios a las normas de protección de los consumidores. Colex, Madrid, pp 788–828

Tapia Fernández I (2011) Art 221. In: Cordón Moreno F, Armenta Deu T, Muerza Esparza JJ, Tapia Fernández I (eds) Comentarios a la ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, I. Thomson Reuters Aranzadi, Cizur Menor, pp 1090–1094

Zumaquero Gil L (2018) La nulidad de la cláusula de gastos de los préstamos hipotecarios. Revista de Derecho Civil 5(2):149–191

Titel: Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts in Spain
verfasst von: Francisco de Elizalde
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Buch: Control of Price Related Terms in Standard Form Contracts
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-23056-2

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-23057-9

Copyright-Jahr: 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23057-9_25

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