After more than five years of legislative discussions, on Thursday, 30 October 2025, the Luxembourg Parliament unanimously adopted Bill of law 7650 introducing class actions in consumer law.

After three years of delays on the European calendar, this important legislative reform is part of the implementation into Luxembourg law of Directive (EU) 2020/1828 on Representative Actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers. Although the initial draft bill went well beyond European requirements, the Luxembourg government preferred to return to the spirit of the Representative Actions Directive, to avoid imposing additional constraints on businesses and to better protect professionals against the risks of collective litigation.

Luxembourg has thus taken a major step forward by introducing a class action mechanism in consumer matters, contributing to the democratisation of justice. The new Law now allows groups of consumers who have suffered the same harm to bring collective legal action, thereby avoiding a proliferation of costly and time-consuming individual proceedings. This new framework contributes to broader European initiatives to strengthen consumers’ access to justice and marks an important evolution in Luxembourg consumer law.

Inspired by the French and Belgian models, this mechanism enables groups of injured parties to obtain compensation or to have unlawful practices stopped or even prohibited. Class action proceedings may be initiated where multiple consumers in similar or identical circumstances have suffered harm to their individual interests due to breaches by one or more professionals, including situations where the breach has ended prior to commencing or concluding legal proceedings.

In practical terms, qualified entities – approved associations or sectoral regulatory authorities – will now be able to take legal action on behalf of several consumers who are victims of the same wrongful conduct, whether it is committed by professionals established in Luxembourg or active in its market. Individuals are thereby precluded from initiating these proceedings independently.

The legislation establishes a rigorous procedure that is characterised by transparency and comprises four principal stages:

1. First step: admissibility. The Luxembourg District Court determines whether the claim is admissible, by checking in particular that there is no conflict of interest. If the class action is deemed admissible, the information is made public on the Direction de la protection des consommateurs (DPC) website.
2. Second step: mediation. The law further provides for a mediation mechanism, which adapts the general civil and commercial mediation principles with specific derogations where necessary to accommodate the distinctive characteristics of class action procedures. If the Court finds the collective action admissible, an out-of-court or judicial mediation phase begins for a maximum period of six months (renewable once by agreement of all parties). If the parties reach a mediation agreement, it will be approved by the Court. If mediation fails, the case will be referred back to the Court.
3. Third step: ruling on compensation. The Court rules on the professional’s liability and determines, where applicable, the group of consumers concerned, the categories of harm to be compensated and the applicable opt-in (voluntary membership)/opt-out (automatic inclusion unless declined) system.
4. Fourth step: implementation. The Court appoints a liquidator who supervises the implementation of the compensations ordered or contained in the approved mediation agreement. The convicted professional must pay compensation under the supervision of the liquidator, who reports regularly to the court. A final report closes the proceedings once compensation has been paid.

In conclusion, this new procedure is consistent with Luxembourg law: it does not create any new rights for consumers or additional obligations for professionals. However, it does introduce a single, consistent procedural framework that makes it possible to obtain, more effectively, injunctions or compensation in cases of collective harm.

Luxembourg consumers now benefit from a contemporary class action mechanism that aligns with European standards and addresses modern challenges. The new legislation ensures effective access to justice and indemnification through a unified procedure that enables both the cessation of unlawful practices and compensation for harm suffered, with implementation overseen by a liquidator and publicity measures guaranteeing that information reaches all affected consumers.

Luxembourg is thus joining its neighbouring countries, whereas France and Belgium have had class actions since 2014, with France seeing only 32 class actions and Belgium 11. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 alone, there were a total of 54 class actions and AKD has developed recognised expertise in class actions over recent years.

AKD's expertise in this area is now available to you in Luxembourg to assist you in this type of litigation.

Don’t hesitate to contact our experts Dr. Eric Perru and Stéphane de Watazzi who are here to support you in understanding these new provisions and assist you with potential class action proceedings.