Consumer law may appear to be harmonised across Europe, but in practice every country has its own nuances, and regulators can enforce them in their own way. When expanding abroad, it is precisely such details that often turn out to be the greatest challenge.
Although many rules share a common, EU-level foundation, their national implementations can differ — from the length and calculation of the withdrawal period, through requirements on the content and language of pre-contractual information, to the rules on displaying prices, promotions and handling complaints. What counts as standard practice in one country may be treated as an infringement in another.
On top of that comes enforcement practice. Local regulators differ in what they scrutinise most closely and how strictly they react, which is why the letter of the law is rarely enough on its own — what matters is knowing how the law is actually applied on a given market.
I cannot imagine facing this without the support of partners I have known for years and whom I trust. In the Alliott Global Alliance we have such people — they are like family to us, and a single phone call is enough. They give us the confidence that an answer comes from someone who genuinely knows the local reality, rather than from a general summary of the rules.
That is why we invite Polish entrepreneurs planning international expansion to make use of our International Legal Coordination service — so that consumer requirements are thought through from the outset, rather than discovered only once a problem arises.
