To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: The European Union Parliament officially endorsed a directive on November 24, 2020, concerning representative actions that will allow collective lawsuits to protect the combined interests of consumers for alleged violations of E.U. law in a broad range of areas, including data protection. The Collective Redress Directive requires E.U. Member States to implement within 24 months at least one effective procedural mechanism that will allow "qualified entities," such as consumer organizations, to bring representative lawsuits on behalf of consumers. The Directive advises that these qualified entities "should be independent and should not be influenced by persons other than consumers who have an economic interest in the bringing of a representative action, in particular by traders or hedge funds, including in the event of funding by third parties."