http://www.eubusiness.com <p><strong>Latest business news about Consumer Policy in the European Union</strong></p><p><img src="../food-supermarket-sainsburys.jpg" class="image-right" alt="supermarket" height="123" width="128" hspace="10" vspace="5" />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.</p><p><strong>FACT SHEETS</strong></p> <p><strong>European Strategies and Programme</strong></p> <ul><li><a href="../strategy">EU Consumer Policy Strategy</a></li><li><a href="../finance">EU Consumer Policy Financial Programme</a></li></ul><p><strong>Consumer Rights and Safety</strong></p><ul><li><a href="../standards">European Standards</a></li><li><a href="../legislation">Product Legislation</a></li><li><a href="../rapex-system">Rapid Alert System for non-food consumer products</a></li><li><a href="../contractual-rights">General Contractual Rights</a></li></ul><p><strong>Useful Links</strong></p> <p><a class="external-link" href="http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/redress_cons/index_en.htm">European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net)</a></p><p><a class="external-link" a href="http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/strategy/scene_en.htm">Consumer Scene by Country</a></p><p><a class="external-link" a href="http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/empowerment/cons_networks_en.htm">National Consumer Organisations</a></p><p><a href="../contacts"><strong>EU Consumer Contacts</strong></a></p> <hr /> <h2>LATEST NEWS</h2> daily 1 2007-01-02T13:22:44Z http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/eurozone-economy.exx 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. No publisher eub2 Text and Picture Copyright 2012 AFP. All other Copyright 2012 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable. eurozone Headline2 retail consumer economy 2012-02-03T11:23:58Z News Item http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/eurozone-economy.ev6 Consumer and business confidence in the 17-nation eurozone improved slightly in January, halting a 10-month decline, official data shows. No publisher eub2 Text and Picture Copyright 2012 AFP. All other Copyright 2012 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable. eurozone confidence business Headline2 consumer economy 2012-01-30T21:24:13Z News Item http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/internet/data-12 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. No publisher eub2 Consumer Data protection Internet 2012-01-25T14:13:19Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/consumer/animal-welfare-12 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. No publisher eub2 Consumer Agriculture Health 2012-01-19T16:32:07Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/agri/animals-12-15 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. No publisher eub2 Consumer Agriculture Health 2012-01-19T16:14:23Z Link http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/consumer/credit-sweep-12 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. No publisher eub2 Consumer Finance 2012-01-12T22:16:34Z Link http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/consumer/credit-websites 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. No publisher eub2 Consumer Finance 2012-01-13T22:10:57Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/eurozone-retail.ef0 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. No publisher eub2 Text and Picture Copyright 2012 AFP. All other Copyright 2012 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable. sector eurozone sales retail consumer 2012-01-06T11:23:33Z News Item http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/chemicals/phosphates-detergents 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. No publisher eub2 Environment Fisheries Chemicals Consumer 2011-12-14T23:01:40Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/consumer/disputes-adr 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. No publisher eub2 EU Law Consumer 2011-12-01T16:46:07Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/health/plant-health-2 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. No publisher eub2 Environment Consumer Agriculture Health 2011-11-16T16:07:06Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/health/cigarettes-2 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. No publisher eub2 Health Consumer 2011-11-14T22:54:31Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/farm-consumer.dia 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. No publisher eub2 Text and Picture Copyright 2011 AFP. All other Copyright 2011 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable. farm consumer Council of Ministers 2011-11-14T18:59:33Z News Item http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/food/additives-sanco 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. No publisher eub2 Food & Drink Health Consumer 2011-11-14T13:08:26Z Link http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/food/additives-2 The use of additives in food will soon become safer and more transparent thanks to two pieces of legislation adopted by the European Commission. No publisher eub2 Food & Drink Health Consumer 2011-11-14T13:15:13Z Guide