Public Consultation on Directive (EU) 2023/2673 Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services

The purpose of this consultation is to publicly consult on the transposition of Directive (EU) 2023/2673 on Distance Marketing of consumer Financial Services (DMFSD).

This Directive amends Directive 2011/83/EU (Consumer Rights Directive) and repeals Directive 2002/65/EC on the distance marketing of financial services.

Directive 2011/83/EU was transposed into Irish law by way of S.I. No. 484/2013 - European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013.

Digitalisation has significantly changed the financial services market in Ireland and across the EU since the transposition of previous Directives. The new Directive takes account of digitalisation and addresses overlaps with sector-specific legislation.

The majority of provisions in this Directive must be transposed on a fully harmonised basis. However, there are a number of provisions in the Directive to which full harmonisation does not apply and Member States are given discretion as to whether and how to apply these provisions.

Chapter 3 sets out the discretions contained in the new Directive. The Department of Finance invites comments on whether these discretions should be availed of, how they should be availed of, and clear reasoning for such a position. Comments are also welcomed where the transposition will impact on other national legislation.

In responding to this consultation you are invited to:

Give your views on the specific questions set out in Chapter 3. You do not have to answer every question – you may choose to answer all of the questions or only those which are relevant to you.

Provide details of any issues or concerns you feel should be considered in dealing with the particular topic being addressed in your response.

Where appropriate, provide some analysis or views on the regulatory and/or financial impact of the proposed approach.

The comments received will be taken into consideration when deciding how best to transpose the Directive into Irish law.

Please note that the Department does not propose to revisit discretions contained in the original 2002 and 2011 Directives and on which decisions were made during the original transposition processes. However, if you have a view on how these discretions were implemented, we would welcome comments.

Consultation Period

The consultation period will run until 2nd May 2025. Submissions received after this deadline may not be considered.

How to Respond

If you wish to respond to this consultation, submissions can be made through the Department of Finance consultation portal - https://consult.finance.gov.ie

Freedom of Information

Responses to this consultation are subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014. Parties should also note that responses to the consultation may be published on the Department’s website.