Unfair Terms and Supplementation of the Contract

Abstract

Article 6, paragraph 1 of Directive 1993/13/EEC provides that unfair terms shall not be binding, whereas the contract shall continue to bind the parties with regards to the terms that can still be effective. Such a rule pursues the particular interest of the consumer, along with the more general interest towards an efficient and competitive market only when the abusive clause is not essential. In fact, when the unfair term constitutes one of the main obligations of the debtor, the contract is not able to continue to exist once deprived from the unfair term. In such situations, in order to provide the consumer with an adequate and effective remedy, a supplementation of the contract is needed.