The only genuinely harmonised rule is Article 21 of Directive 2011/83/EU: a consumer calling a trader about a concluded contract must not pay more than the basic rate. The Court of Justice clarified in Case C-568/15, of 2 March 2017, that the basic rate cannot exceed the cost of a call to a standard geographic or mobile number.
Beyond that, there is no European rule on waiting time, on the right to a human operator, on opening hours or on response deadlines. All of it is national competence.
National regimes identified
| Member State | Instrument | Nature |
|---|---|---|
| Spain | Ley 10/2025 of 26 December | General — service quality, waiting time, human attention, response deadlines. Fully enforceable since 28 December 2026 |
| Portugal | Decree-Law 134/2009 of 2 June | General — legal regime for customer telephone relationship centres, in force since 2009 |
| Italy | Article 24-bis of Decreto-Legge 83/2012 | Partial — offshoring notification, origin disclosure, right to an EU-based operator |
| Romania | [Draft law approved in the Senate, blocked in the Chamber of Deputies. Not in force.] | Pending |
| France | Loi 2025-594, of 30 June 2025, and its implementing decree of 23 July 2026 | Telemarketing — prior express consent for telephone canvassing, in all sectors, since 11 August 2026 |
| Other Member States | No general customer service regime identified | Only the harmonised layers, national telemarketing rules and sector obligations |
It is not the existence of national regimes that creates compliance work — it is their absence combined with the Spanish exception. An operation serving all twenty-seven markets from a single centre faces one very demanding and extraterritorial Spanish obligation, an Italian disclosure duty, a French prior-consent regime, a Portuguese regime in force since 2009 — and, for the other twenty-three, no clear rule at all, which means uncertainty rather than exemption.
What this site addresses
Each has a concrete answer on the solutions page.
Spanish law reaches offshored centres
Ley 10/2025 applies to undertakings established in any State provided they operate in Spanish territory, and has been fully enforceable since 28 December 2026, with enforcement by seventeen regional consumer authorities.
View solutionFour incompatible regimes in one operation
Three minutes in Spain, sixty seconds in Portugal, a disclosure and transfer duty in Italy, prior consent in France — and no rule at all in twenty-three other markets, which means uncertainty rather than exemption.
View solutionCertification is not compliance
The European contact centre standard is adopted automatically in all 27 Member States and, precisely because it is universal, differentiates nothing. In Spain, 94 % of sector undertakings hold a quality certification and still faced a new statutory regime for which it did not prepare them.
View solutionServices
Bounded products, with defined scope, method and deliverables.
Multi-Jurisdiction Exposure Assessment
Determination of which national regimes apply to an operation serving more than one Member State
SpecificationAI Act Article 50 Conformity
Transparency of automated customer service systems under the Artificial Intelligence Act
SpecificationEuropean Comparative Regimes Report
A Member State by Member State comparison of customer service and telemarketing obligations
SpecificationWhere to go next
Framework
The subject matter, the applicable regime and what has changed in recent years.
ReadMarket
Who is covered, by category of undertaking, and with what priority.
ViewTraining
Training paths on the applicable regulatory framework.
View programmesFAQ
The questions that always come up, answered with a source.
ConsultDiscuss your case
A concrete question gets a concrete answer. Enquiries are routed directly and answered within three working days.