European Consumers' Organisation

BEUC, the European Consumers' Organisation, acts as the umbrella group in Brussels for its members and its main task is to represent them at European level and defend the interests of all Europe's consumers. BEUC investigates EU decisions and developments likely to affect consumers, with a special focus on five areas identified as priorities by its members: Financial Services, Food, Digital Rights, Consumer Rights & Enforcement and Sustainability.

EU makes bold pledge for resource-friendly consumer goods — 11 March 2020, 17:36 CET

Consumer products sold in Europe will become more environmentally friendly, in a bid to better use depleting natural resources.

Settlement reached: Volkswagen to compensate consumers in Germany affected by Dieselgate — 02 March 2020, 00:34 CET

German consumer group Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (vzbv) and Volkswagen (VW) have reached an out-of-court settlement to compensate drivers affected by the 2015 Dieselgate emissions scandal.

Two-thirds of 250 products bought from online marketplaces fail safety tests, consumer groups find — 26 February 2020, 00:29 CET

Six consumer groups from the BEUC network tested 250 electrical goods, toys, cosmetics and other products bought from online marketplaces such as Amazon, AliExpress, eBay and Wish. They selected the products based on possible risks and found that 66% of them fail EU safety laws with possible consequences such as electric shock, fire or suffocation.

Europe's digital future must benefit consumers — 19 February 2020, 16:54 CET

In response to the European Commission's artificial intelligence (AI) initiative and data strategy - both presented today - The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) calls for the EU to put in place safeguards to mitigate risks from AI and data sharing for the EU's 450 million consumers and to protect their rights in this digital revolution.

Worrying decline of food controls in Europe, new BEUC report reveals — 23 October 2019, 18:25 CET

The number of food controls and the resources allocated to them are dwindling across Europe. This is the worrying trend that emerges from the report 'Keeping food in check', published on 22 October by BEUC, The European Consumer Organisation.

10 years on from the first inefficient light bulb ban, consumers have saved up to €1,330 — 29 August 2019, 18:18 CET

In the decade after EU rules on energy-efficient lighting kicked in, the average European household has saved up to €1,330 - the equivalent combined price of a mid-range washing machine, fridge and dishwasher.

The EU needs rules on chemicals in coffee cups, straws and other paper food packaging, consumer test shows — 25 July 2019, 18:31 CET

A new lab test shows that food packaging made of coloured paper and cardboard - such as coffee cups and straws - may contain and release chemicals originating from the inks used for printing.

Starting tomorrow, consumers will benefit from cheaper intra-EU phone calls — 14 May 2019, 17:16 CET

People making phone calls from their home country to someone living in another EU country will see their phone bill drop thanks to a new EU measure which will apply from tomorrow.

EU Parliament votes for more transparency of food safety studies — 17 April 2019, 21:26 CET

In a plenary vote today, the European Parliament endorsed the deal agreed with Member States on a proposal to end secrecy around scientific studies on food safety.

AI ethic guidance a first step but needs to be transformed into tangible rights for people — 08 April 2019, 23:44 CET

On Monday, 8 April, the European Commission's High Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence (HLEG) will publish its "Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI". AccessNow, ANEC and BEUC, all members of the expert group, support these guidelines but stress that they can only be a first step. The European Union has the responsibility to ensure that fundamental and consumer rights are respected and bring benefits to people.

Parliament gives green light to handy EU-wide pension product — 05 April 2019, 21:20 CET

The EU Parliament has given its blessing to a deal reached between the EU institutions on the creation of a pension product that would be available in all EU countries and to all consumers, regardless of the country they live in or move to.

A big step closer to group actions anywhere in the EU — 26 March 2019, 14:09 CET

The European Parliament has confirmed in a plenary vote today that it wants citizens in all EU countries to be able to go to court as a group if a company has caused damages on a mass scale.

Deal reached to improve enforcement of consumer law — 22 March 2019, 11:45 CET

The EU has struck a deal that should see consumers better protected when a company breaks the law.

EU authorities supervising financial markets to get stronger and long-awaited consumer protection powers — 21 March 2019, 15:51 CET

The EU has struck a deal to strengthen and better fund the authorities which are responsible for supervising financial markets at EU level.

Member States push for more consumer law enforcement without going the full mile — 01 March 2019, 21:01 CET

Representatives of EU Member States have reached a position that more needs to be done to protect consumers from companies that break consumer law, particularly by strengthening the penalties national authorities can impose. National governments also want to provide consumers with the right to terminate the contract, or to get compensation in case of damages, when they are faced with an unfair practice.

Opportunity lost: Parliament rejects possibility to make driving history count — 13 February 2019, 18:16 CET

Today the European Parliament voted on new rules regarding motor insurance.

EU concludes reform with stronger guarantee rights for consumers in future — 30 January 2019, 00:17 CET

The EU institutions have approved a deal which includes rights for consumers of digital content and services like software, streaming or game downloads for the first time. The deal also covers users if they provide personal data instead of money to access the service or the software.

More enforcement of consumer law and better rights in digital economy, demand MEPs — 22 January 2019, 13:46 CET

The European Parliament committee for the internal market (IMCO) is pushing for stronger rules when companies do not abide by EU consumer law. Enforcement is rightly seen as the weak link in consumer protection rules.

EU gives up in bid to help consumers on currency conversion scam - adopts consumer-friendly stance in cross-border payments — 19 December 2018, 17:55 CET

The EU institutions have reached a deal which will not prevent a currency conversion scam that affects travellers.

Major reform of EU electricity market: consumer benefits — 19 December 2018, 16:46 CET

EU legislators have agreed to new electricity market rules which will apply for the coming decade and beyond.

Deal reached: New CO2 emission targets for cars to spur cleaner driving for all Europeans — 18 December 2018, 21:02 CET

CO2 emissions are directly related to our cars' fuel economy. Reducing them will benefit the environment, public health and our wallets. Today's decision is an important milestone to lower the cost of driving - with projected fuel savings of up to thousands of euros over the next decade – and push car makers to place low-emission and fuel-efficient cars on the market.

Deal opens door to broadcasting of content across the EU — 13 December 2018, 23:33 CET

Today, negotiators from the European Parliament and Member State governments concluded a deal to open up broadcasters' TV programmes, series and news content for online viewers living in another EU country.

Consumer groups take up fight against unfair 'no-show' clause in airline tickets — 10 December 2018, 14:26 CET

Today several consumer groups are taking action against the use of 'no-show' clauses in airline tickets. This clause prevents passengers from using the return leg of an airline ticket, or the remainder of an itinerary, if they didn’t use the first leg, for whatever reason.

National governments want strong consumer guarantee rights — 07 December 2018, 12:24 CET

Member States have adopted their position on a proposal to reform the guarantee rights consumers enjoy when buying goods. National governments decided to modernise consumer rights whilst respecting specific national rules.

MEPs in real push to make group actions for consumers possible everywhere in EU — 06 December 2018, 13:58 CET

Members of the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) in the EU Parliament today supported the idea that consumers everywhere in the EU should be able to go to court as a group if they have been harmed by the same trader.