the customer, as consumer, is considered to be the weaker contractual party. Consequently, all specific European consumer protection standards defined in numerous EU directives on unfair contractual provisions, and on the rights of consumers laid down in the contracts concluded between consumers and traders on unfair business practices, et all, apply also to restaurant reservation contracts containing a no-show clause. 3.2. Reservation contract as distance contract As a rule, customers and restaurant service providers enter into reservation contracts containing a no-show clause without their simultaneous physical presence but under an organised distance service-provision scheme and with the use of one or more means of distance communication. Distance reservation contracts are concluded directly with the service providers. However, they are frequently entered into on a special online marketplace where a third person, as the provider, i.e. as an intermediary, organises the conclusion of distance contracts between customers and restaurant service providers. The established legal relations between the consumer and the service provider or the customer and the provider of an online marketplace are governed by the provisions of the applicable national contract law harmonised with Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights (hereinafter: CR Directive).16 According to this Directive, the reservation contract is considered as a consumer service contract.17 The provisions of CR Directive set forth a whole series of rules aimed at securing, by distance contracts, specific protection of the consumer as the weaker party to the contract. The CR Directive provisions suggest that the trader - restaurant service provider and the trader-provider of online marketplaces, in relation to the consumer entering tracts, Art. 2/b, Unfair Commercial Practices, Directive 2005/29/EC, et al. 16 OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, pp. 64–88. Current consolidated version (28/05/2022) see at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A02011L0083-20220528 (accessed: 7/10/2025). 17 Service contract is defined in the CR Directive as “any contract other than a sales contract under which the trader supplies or undertakes to supply a service, including a digital service, to the consumer” (Art. 2/6); The CR Directive defines a “distance contract” as „any contract concluded between the trader and the consumer under an organised distance sales or service-provision scheme without the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, with the exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded“; (Art. 2/t.7). “Online marketplace” is defined as “service using software, including a website, part of a website or an application, operated by or on behalf of a trader which allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with other traders or consumers“ (Art. 2/point 17). “Provider of an online marketplace” is considered to be “any trader providing an online marketplace to consumers“ (Art. 2/18). 121 NO-SHOW CLAUSE IN RESTAURANT SERVICE CONTRACTS
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