European Consumer Protection Enforcement Day- High Level Meeting
The European Consumer Protection Enforcement Day will kick off with a critical analysis of the current model for collaboration in consumer right protection, and will also examine possibilities for boosting efficiency and effectiveness in the future.The programme will therefore also feature a debate on the amended protection model. Only then will European consumer rights be applied identically throughout the market and will the consumer feel protected equally and enjoy the full benefits of the internal market. Competition can then yield its benefits.A decline in prices and an expansion in freedom of choice will then be a reality.
The crown jewel of European integration is without a doubt the creation of an internal market.500 million consumers comprise the engine driving the European economy, with total consumption at close to 60% of the European GDP.An internal market that is not adequately accessible to the consumer or in which the consumer feels tricked or ripped off will be less competitive.All evidence indicates that general economic efficiency will suffer.
Unfortunately, we are still far from a true European consumer market.The March 2010 consumer scoreboard shows that only 29% of European consumers purchased a product or service in another EU country over the past year.We see similar data from retailers:barely 25% of retailers closed a sale with a consumer from another EU country.These figures point to a significant economic resource that has not been tapped into.This is however necessary for indispensable structural reforms in Europe.In addition to this, it also demonstrates that individual consumers do not benefit (or cannot benefit) adequately from the advantages of the internal market.
Some key obstacles to the creation of a true internal consumer market have already been noted.At the European level, protection of the consumer’s economic interests still remains unequal from country to country, and it also appears to be quite fragmented due to a lack of uniformity in transposition of European standards into national laws.In the different evaluation periods, the current European regulatory framework has proven to be inadequate.It fails to set up a dynamic apparatus for protection that is capable of reacting quickly and forcefully.It does not allow for elaboration, much less implementation, of a European protection policy.
At the different evaluation times, the current European legislative framework has proven to be inadequate. It fails to implement a system that is powerful enough to enforce the law, with the necessary speed and force. It does enable neither drafting nor implementation of a European policy to enforce the law.
On Consumer Protection Enforcement Day, these issues will be analysed in a summit bringing together protection policy officials from the various Member States.The objective is to outline a more dynamic and effective model for protection at the European level, which is necessary for the well-being of the internal market.