The Ministry of Justice proposes a 'compromise' solution.
Thus, the deadline for submitting amendments to the third (final) reading of the Consumer Rights Protection Law has ended. It should be noted that although the law was initially 'opened' to align it with the provisions of the EU directive, the Saeima deputy from the National Alliance, Nauris Puntulis, proposed to supplement the law with a special section 'Language of Communication' during the second reading. The amendments were written in such a way that if they were adopted in this form, they would, on the one hand, obligate the buyer (consumer) to speak with the seller (service provider), cashier in the store, or waiter only in Latvian, while, on the other hand, they would prohibit the seller from communicating with the buyer in Russian, even if they wanted to.
Absurd formulations were still supported by the Economic Affairs Committee - in the hope that they would be corrected by the third reading. The author of the amendments, Puntulis, attempted to correct them, but there was no more clarity: it remains unclear whether the seller can respond in Russian if addressed in that language. They can respond in English, even in Polish and Japanese, if they know those languages, but not in Russian...
The situation was attempted to be improved by experts from the Ministry of Justice, who made their 'compromise' proposals.
4.3 Language of Communication.
(1) The consumer in Latvia has the right to receive services and information about the product in the state language. The service provider or seller is obliged to ensure the realization of this right.
(2) The service provider or seller is not obliged to serve the consumer in any other language than the state language.
(3) The service provider or seller is obliged to ensure that the first and primary language of oral communication is Latvian. In further oral communication, a foreign language may be used if the consumer requests it and the service provider or seller agrees and can provide it.
(4) The service provider or seller is obliged to ensure that documents prepared for providing services, used interfaces of digital content, as well as the possibility of choosing a language in technical solutions such as applications, websites, call centers, or in-person service infrastructure, subtitles, and other technical solutions are in Latvian. If the service provider or seller can ensure it, then documents prepared for providing services, used interfaces of digital content, as well as the possibility of choosing a language in technical solutions may also be in the official language of an EU member state or a candidate country of the European Union in addition to or alongside Latvian.
(5) The provisions of part four of this article do not apply to goods imported from other states or exported to other states. Packaging, instructions, labeling, tags, and other information about such goods may also contain translations into the languages of third countries in addition to or alongside Latvian and the official languages of EU member states or candidate countries of the European Union.
To supplement the Transitional Provisions with point 49 in the following wording: '49. Compliance with the requirements established by part four of Article 4_3 of this law shall be ensured by service providers or sellers no later than June 30, 2027.'
As you can see, these proposals will still allow the seller and buyer to agree on what language to communicate in. However, from these amendments, which will apparently be supported by the parliamentary committee in the end, it follows that, for example, the Russian language will have to be removed from the restaurant menu or from the computer (website) of the bistro or pizzeria.
