Ving Sverige AB, a Swedish travel company advertised New York trips in newspaper ads, indicating an entry level price only. The Swedish consumer ombudsman (Konsumentombudsmannen) sued for unfair competition as he regarded it necessary to indicate a specific price whereas advertising an enty-level price only was misleading.The Swedish court (Marknadsdomstolen) referred the follwoing questions to the ECJ:Is the requirement ‘thereby enables the consumer to make a purchase’ in Article 2(i) of Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market ( 1 ) to be interpreted as meaning that an invitation to purchase exists as soon as information on the advertised product and its price is available so that the consumer may make a decision to purchase, or is it necessary that the commercial communication also offer an actual opportunity to purchase the product (e.g. an order form) or that there be access to such an opportunity (e.g. an advertisement outside a shop)?Is Article 7(4)(c) to be interpreted as meaning that it is sufficient to give an entry-level price for the price requirement to be met?Reference in Case C-122/10 – Konsumentombudsmannen v. Ving Sverige AB published in EU Official Journal here>>.
