Recital 53

(53)Member States should take appropriate measures to promote responsible practices during all phases of the credit relationship, taking into account the specific features of their credit market. It should be possible for those measures to include, for instance, the provision of information to, and the education of, consumers, including warnings about the risks related to default on payment and to over-indebtedness. In an expanding credit market, in particular, it is important that creditors do not engage in irresponsible lending or give out credit without prior assessment of creditworthiness. Member States should carry out the necessary supervision to avoid such behaviour of creditors and should determine the necessary means to sanction such behaviour. Without prejudice to the provisions on credit risk of Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ¹² , creditors should bear the responsibility of checking individually the creditworthiness of the consumer. To that end, creditors should be allowed to use information provided by the consumer not only during the preparation of the credit agreement in question, but also during a long-standing commercial relationship. Consumers should also act with prudence and respect their contractual obligations.