Law & Compliance

The subject area comprises economic law as the totality of all legal norms and measures under private law, criminal law and public law with which the state influences the legal relationships of those involved in economic life with each other and in relation to the state.  Economic law is the generic term for the law of economic transactions as well as the legal basis of economic policy. Specifically, economic law includes economic constitutional law, economic administrative law, private economic law and economic criminal law. At the international level, the economy is regulated by international economic law.

Of particular importance is the data protection law reformed by the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (DSGVO), which the members of the VDA are implementing for their companies and also for motor vehicles, whose digital services and networking are leading to increased data collection and processing. Here, it is necessary to develop the appropriate framework conditions in national and EU data protection law for the very innovatively developing technology. To this end, the VDA is also in ongoing contact with the data protection authorities of the federal and state governments.

In the above mentioned legal areas, the VDA accompanies the legislation, analyzes the corresponding proposals of laws, regulations and directives, especially in Germany and the EU. In coordination with the members, statements are developed and made available to the politically acting institutions.

The subject area does not comprise a separate "consumer protection law" that would regulate all issues of consumer law. Legal norms that mainly or "incidentally" serve consumer protection objectives exist in a great many individual laws. Often, the objectives of consumer protection also overlap with other objectives. This is because the consumer is considered a "consumer" only in certain social contexts. The same individuals may be exposed to the same hazard in a different context, e.g., as employees. A regulation governing the handling of a certain product can therefore serve both occupational safety and consumer protection, and possibly also environmental protection. As a legal field, consumer protection cannot be clearly delimited.

For the automotive industry, the focus is on the informed and self-determined customer. This applies in particular to contractual relationships that are often established at the dealership, for example in the case of purchase, financing or leasing contracts. Here, the dealership is obliged to provide information and advice regarding the vehicle, but also regarding the financial services brokered. The customer should then be able to drive his vehicle safely, in an environmentally friendly manner and comfortably. Furthermore, the financing of the vehicle should be designed in such a way that the customer can use this form of mobility without restriction.