Implementation Of The Digital Content Directive In Poland: A Fast Ride On A Tandem Bike Against The Traffic

Abstract

Just like two cyclists on a tandem, Directive 2019/770 (DCD) and Directive 2019/771 (SGD) ride together in the same direction. Their ultimate goal is to increase the level of consumer protection and improve the functioning of the internal market by laying down conformity standards and remedies in contracts for the sale of goods and supply of digital content and digital services. The purpose of this article is to present the way, in which the Directives concerned are scheduled to be implemented into the Polish legal system. In order to provide the necessary background, initial Polish experiences with the implementation of the EU consumer aquis are discussed. These early developments are then contrasted with the recently unveiled plans for the DCD and SGD implementation, which met severe criticism in Polish academia. Instead of an integrated approach, a “copy-paste” implementation outside of the Civil Code is proposed. This may result in a systemic disruption affecting not only consumer law, but also contract law as a whole.