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Improving cross-border consumer protection:The European Commission wants
your views
Europe's 500 million citizens should get the same benefits from their
consumer rights if they shop at home, in another European Union country or
on-line in Europe.
Today the European Commission has started a consultation with
consumers, consumer protection organisations and business to see how best to
strengthen consumer protection across borders.
Neven Mimica, European Commissioner for Consumer Policy, said:
"Improving the effective implementation of consumer rights is one of my
priorities.
Today all of Europe is our high street.
I want to hear from consumers, shop owners, businesses how we can strengthen
protection, especially across borders, without increasing red tape."
The review will feed into the Commission's on-going, open ended, work
to improve the pan-European network of consumer protection enforcement bodies.
This network has a vital role in ensuring that people across the EU
enjoy equal rights no matter where the purchases are made or whom they are made
from.
The consultation is open until 31 January 2014 and is accessible
on-line.
The specific questions in the public consultation
The consultation seeks feedback on such issues as:
- What means of investigation and intervention do national enforcement
authorities need to cooperate better in tackling infringements to consumer laws
concerning several countries?
- What sanctions are necessary to better deter infringing practices?
- How can the enforcers act more efficiently and provide a more robust
enforcement response to combat malpractices which occur widely in the EU or
which are perpetrated by the same trader operating in a number of Member States?
Given current public funding constraints, a key question in this
consultation is whether -and how- a possible, more coordinated, EU-level
approach could help pool resources and expertise and achieve effective joint
enforcement responses to combat infringing practices that harm consumers and
businesses in the EU.
At a practical level the review should help develop better indicators,
identify opportunities for data sharing and lead to improved methodologies for
enforcement.
Background
The EU Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Regulation links national
consumer authorities in a pan-European enforcement network.
This network addresses breaches of EU legislation involving at least
two EU countries.
A concrete example is a distance selling trader from a country who
approaches customers in other countries by illegal, aggressive commercial
practices.
Since the CPC Regulation came into force, in 2007, a national authority
in the EU country where the consumer interests are harmed can call on their
counterpart in the Member State where the trader is located and ask for action
to stop the infringement.
Enforcement authorities can also alert each other to malpractices they
have spotted which may spread to other countries.
Increasingly, operators competing in the same sector are adopting
similar marketing techniques, and the associated malpractices are consequently
spreading widely across the EU.
Moreover, with new sales channels developing on-line and in mobile
commerce, potential malpractice may also spread faster and affect large numbers
of consumers in the EU (over 50% of consumers say that they are most likely to
come across illegal commercial practices on the Internet.