Consumer Policy in the EU

Latest business news about Consumer Policy in the European Union

Consumer Policy supports the aims laid out in Articles 153 and 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, which promote the interests, health and safety of European consumers. It is designed to ensure that the internal market is open, fair and transparent, allowing consumers to exercise real choice, excluding rogue traders, and helping consumers and businesses take full advantage of the market’s potential.

FACT SHEETS

European Strategies and Programme

• EU Consumer Policy Strategy
• EU Consumer Policy Financial Programme

Consumer Rights and Safety

• European Standards
• Product Legislation
• Rapid Alert System for non-food consumer products
• General Contractual Rights

Useful Links

European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net)

Consumer Scene by Country

National Consumer Organisations

EU Consumer Contacts

LATEST NEWS

Eurozone retail sales slip during key holiday period — 03 February 2012, 12:23 CET

Eurozone retail sales fell in the key run-up to Christmas, dropping 0.4 per cent in December compared with November, the European Union's data agency said on Friday.

Eurozone consumer confidence ends 10-month drop — 30 January 2012, 22:24 CET

Consumer and business confidence in the 17-nation eurozone improved slightly in January, halting a 10-month decline, official data shows.

Data protection reform - guide — 25 January 2012, 15:13 CET

The European Commission has today proposed a comprehensive reform of the EU's 1995 data protection rules to strengthen online privacy rights and boost Europe's digital economy. Technological progress and globalisation have profoundly changed the way our data is collected, accessed and used. In addition, the 27 EU Member States have implemented the 1995 rules differently, resulting in divergences in enforcement. A single law will do away with the current fragmentation and costly administrative burdens, leading to savings for businesses of around €2.3 billion a year. The initiative will help reinforce consumer confidence in online services, providing a much needed boost to growth, jobs and innovation in Europe.

Animal Welfare Strategy 2012-2015 - guide — 19 January 2012, 17:32 CET

The European Commission has adopted a new four-year strategy (2012-2015) that aims to further improve the welfare of animals in the European Union.

Strategy for the Protection and Welfare of Animals 2012-2015 - EC Communication — 19 January 2012, 17:14 CET

The European Commission has adopted a new four-year strategy (2012-2015) that aims to further improve the welfare of animals in the European Union.

Consumer credit sweep — 12 January 2012, 23:16 CET

An "EU sweep" is an action co-ordinated by the European Commission, and carried out simultaneously by the national consumer enforcement authorities in the Member States, Norway and Iceland. In a given week each year, consumer authorities check hundreds of sites in a particular sector in order to see where consumer rights are being compromised or denied. When they find that a website does not comply with EU consumer law, they then contact the operator and ask for corrective action. Those who fail to correct illegal practices can face fines or be ordered to close their websites.

Consumer credit websites - EC investigation - guide — 13 January 2012, 23:10 CET

Were you ever about to sign a contract for a personal loan, credit card, or other consumer credit and discovered that it was all working out more expensive than you had first expected? An EU-wide investigation of websites offering consumer credit took place to check whether consumers are receiving the information to which they are entitled under EU consumer law before signing a consumer credit contract. National enforcement authorities checked more than 500 websites across the 27 Member States plus Norway and Iceland. They flagged 70% (393) of sites for further investigation in relation to the following main problems: the advertising did not include the required standard information; the offers omitted key information that is essential for making a decision; the costs were presented in a misleading way. National enforcement authorities will now contact financial institutions and credit intermediaries about suspected irregularities and ask them to clarify or take corrective action. The sweep operation checked in particular how business is applying the Consumer Credit Directive (recently transposed in Member States), which aims to make it easier for consumers to understand and compare credit offers.

Eurozone retail sales fell 0.8% in November — 06 January 2012, 12:23 CET

Retail sales fell by 0.8 per cent across the 17-nation eurozone in November, slumping after a 0.1 per cent increase in October, official figures showed on Friday.

Fish-friendly laundry and dishwasher detergents - guide — 15 December 2011, 00:01 CET

Washing powders and dishwasher detergents will need to be almost phosphate-free in future, following a vote in the European Parliament on Wednesday. The measures aim to protect aquatic life in waterways and seas around the EU.

Solving consumer disputes out-of-court - guide — 01 December 2011, 17:46 CET

Currently, out-of-court dispute resolution in the EU is possible only for some business sectors or in some areas. To tackle this issue, the European Commission has unveiled a package of legislative proposals to ensure that all EU consumers can solve their problems without going to court, regardless of the kind of product or service that the contractual dispute is about and regardless of where they bought it in the European single market (that is, at home or abroad). For consumers shopping online from another EU country, the Commission wants to create an EU-wide single online platform, which will allow to solve contractual disputes entirely online within 30 days.

Plant health pests and EU funding programmes to deal with them - guide — 16 November 2011, 17:07 CET

The European Union today earmarked 19 million euros to co-finance programmes in seven Member States aiming to combat organisms harmful to plants and to prevent them from spreading further in the Union and thus from having sever consequences on the internal market. During a meeting of the Standing Committee on Plant Health (SCPH), the Member States endorsed two Commission proposals providing the co-financing (EUR 15 and EUR 4 million respectively) of actions already undertaken in the past or planned to be executed next year.

EU move to reduce cigarette ignited fires - guide — 14 November 2011, 23:54 CET

Cigarettes left unattended are one of the leading causes of fatal fires in Europe. Evidence shows that the number of fatalities can be reduced by over 40% with the introduction of 'Reduced Ignition Propensity' (RIP) cigarettes. This means cigarettes which self extinguish when left unattended and which are thus less likely to cause fire. This safety measure is already in place in some countries globally (US, Canada, Australia), and, in the EU, in Finland since April 2010. As from 17th November 2011, once the new safety standards are published in the EU Official Journal all cigarettes sold in Europe will have to comply with these measures. It will be the role of the national authorities to enforce this new fire safety measure.

EU predicts 50 million hens kept illegally next year — 14 November 2011, 19:59 CET

European agriculture chiefs predicted Monday that more than 50 million battery hens will still be held next year in illegal cages, as Brussels threatened legal action against 11 states.

Database on Food Additives — 14 November 2011, 14:08 CET

This database can serve as a tool to inform about the food additives approved for use in food in the EU and their conditions of use. It is based on the Union list of food. This list is in Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008. The Union list was established after the transfer of the food additives permitted for use in foods under Directives 94/35/EC, 94/36/EC and 95/2/EC, in a new food categorisation system. Some additives and uses which are now longer needed are not entered in Annex II.

Food Additives - guide — 14 November 2011, 14:15 CET

The use of additives in food will soon become safer and more transparent thanks to two pieces of legislation adopted by the European Commission.

Health and Consumer Programmes 2014-2020 - guide — 09 November 2011, 18:28 CET

The European Commission has adopted proposals for the new Health for Growth and Consumer Programmes. The two programmes aim to foster a Europe of healthy, active, informed and empowered citizens, who can contribute to economic growth. These new programmes will run from 2014-2020 with a budget of EUR 446 million for the Health for Growth Programme and EUR 197 million for the Consumer Programme. Focus will be on fewer concrete actions that offer clear EU added-value.

Eurozone official retail sales fall 0.7% in September — 07 November 2011, 13:25 CET

Retail sales dropped by 0.7 per cent across the 17-nation eurozone in September, hitting reverse gear after a modest 0.1 per cent increase in August, official figures showed on Monday.

New EU rules on consumer rights in force - guide — 11 October 2011, 22:21 CET

The new EU Consumer Rights Directive was formally adopted by Member States in the EU's Council of Ministers on 10 October 2011. The new legislation will strengthen consumers' rights in all 27 EU countries, particularly when shopping online. After publication in the EU's Official Journal, governments will have two years to implement the rules at national level. The approval follows an overwhelming vote to back the rules by the European Parliament on 23 June 2011. The European Commission put forward the proposal in October 2008. The final agreement between Parliament and Council on the Consumer Rights Directive was brokered by EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding in June this year.

Brussels prods Europe to invest in broadband — 04 October 2011, 10:26 CET

The European Commission is urging Europe's largest telecoms operators to invest in high-speed broadband as it launches a review into the price of access to smaller alternative operators.

Sweeps website — 29 September 2011, 16:37 CET

An "EU sweep" is an action co-ordinated by the European Commission, and carried out simultaneously by the national consumer enforcement authorities in the Member States, Norway and Iceland. In a given week each year, consumer authorities check hundreds of sites in a particular sector in order to see where consumer rights are being compromised or denied. When they find that a website does not comply with EU consumer law, they then contact the operator and ask for corrective action. Those who fail to correct illegal practices can face fines or be ordered to close their websites.

EU Sweep investigation - buying tickets online - guide — 29 September 2011, 16:42 CET

Buying tickets for music and sporting events on the internet is now much less likely to end in tears, following a crackdown on problematic websites which sold tickets to non-existent events or which failed to explain whether the buyer would get a refund or not, if the event was cancelled. 88% of the websites selling tickets for cultural and sporting events, checked for breach of EU consumer rules, now comply with EU law (compared with only 40% in 2010), and further improvements can be expected as cases are brought to the courts. The EU co-ordinated "Sweep" investigation was launched in September 2010 by national authorities in all Member States, Norway and Iceland. The problems identified included: incomplete or misleading information about the price of tickets; unfair terms and conditions; incomplete or misleading information about the trader. Sites have been corrected, usually voluntarily, but in some cases penalties were imposed.

EU sounds death-knell for cod-supper next year — 27 September 2011, 15:29 CET

EU officials on Tuesday ordered Scots and Irish trawlers to stop catching cod, king of fish-and-chip suppers, for the whole of 2012.

Progress in the Development of Alternative Methods to Animal Testing for Cosmetics - Commission report — 14 September 2011, 20:03 CET

The European Commission presented on 13 September its yearly report on Alternative Methods to Animal Tests in the Field of Cosmetics to the European Parliament and Council.

EU car price difference narrowed in 2010: Commission — 26 July 2011, 19:21 CET

The price difference of new cars between European Union states narrowed last year thanks to increasing competition in the 27-nation bloc, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

New EU rules to strengthen toy safety — 20 July 2011, 22:29 CET

There will be no more places for defective and dangerous toys in the EU market. As from today, new EU rules for toys are in force to fulfil the highest safety requirements worldwide. With the entry into force, the new Toys Directive, all actors involved in the production, selling and control of toys on the EU market will get more responsibilities to better protect children.