Consumers in the European Union are to be offered new protection against Machiavellian low-cost carriers with a ban on ‘pre-ticked’ boxes coming into force.

The Europe-wide ban will remove the requirement on consumers to “untick” boxes to avoid extra services when shopping online.

This could prove beneficial to passengers purchasing tickets for low-cost carriers seeking to avoid additional costs for unnecessary services.

Proposals were approved by ministers meeting in Luxembourg.

A statement said: “With the new directive, pre-ticked boxes will be banned across the European Union.”

Under the new rules online traders must disclose the total cost of the product or service, as well as any extra fees.

Customers will be exempt from any costs of which they were not “properly informed” before they placed an order.

Importantly, consumers paying by credit card will not be forced to pay more than the extra costs incurred by traders.

The 27 EU governments have two years to implement the new rules at national level.