Brussels, Oct. 8, 2025 (Lusa) - The European Commission gave Portugal two months on Wednesday to correctly transpose EU rules on price reductions in services, which aim to safeguard consumer protection, considering that the country does not respect rules on commercial practices.

On the day it released its October package of infringements, the EU government said it had initiated proceedings by sending a formal notice to Portugal for failing to correctly transpose the rules on price reductions, which amended the directives on consumer rights, unfair contract terms and the indication of prices.

"The Commission considers that the Portuguese national provisions transposing the amendments to the directive on the indication of prices go beyond their scope of application, covering not only movable goods, as required by the directive on the indication of prices, but also services," the organisation explains.

For this reason, it accuses Portugal of not complying with "the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, which covers all commercial practices, including the advertising of price reductions for services, and prohibits member states from adopting stricter rules that go beyond its requirements".

This is why this infringement procedure was launched with a letter of formal notice to Portugal, which now has two months to respond and correct the shortcomings pointed out by the European Commission.

In the absence of a satisfactory response, Brussels may decide to issue a reasoned opinion, the next stage of an infringement.

The European legislation in question aims to "ensure a high level of consumer protection while harmonising national rules for the benefit of the internal market", the institution also said.

The EU rules on price reductions also apply to services, aiming to ensure transparency and protect consumers against misleading commercial practices.

It is stipulated that whenever a service provider announces a price reduction, it must clearly indicate the previous price applied for a given period.

This obligation prevents companies from artificially increasing prices before announcing discounts.

In addition, all information about reductions must be presented in a clear, truthful and unambiguous manner, allowing consumers to assess the veracity of the promotion.

ANE/ADB // ADB.

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