European Consumer Protection Enforcement Day - High Level Meeting _ Press Point
Equal enforcement of Consumer Protection Rights throughout the entire internal market – necessity for consumer trust and well functioning of the European economy.
If you fly often, you know that the tax and fee system is a real jungle which suffers from a complete lack of transparency. The taxes applied, and the overall presentation of additional costs, in addition to the fare, vary from company to company and are often wrong…
.be, .nl, .fr, .de, .com, .info, .eu… : who knows which country they are surfing in or which authorities can monitor a given internet site? By exchanging information, consumer protection authorities can ensure that sites that have incomplete or misleading information can be taken care of. However, while it takes an hour to create an internet site, legal action can take weeks or months… 30 monitoring authorities, each with their own interpretation, in a unified market on the internet...still following?
About 20 years ago, the EU made the creation of an internal market one of its top priorities. The project has made a great deal of progress but the goal is still far from being met…
The Belgian Presidency of the EU, with the support of the European Commission, estimated that after several years of practice, the time had come to take stock and analyse how the application of consumer rights rules had evolved in the internal market and see what steps could be taken for the future.
The Belgian Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne has taken advantage of the Presidency of the European Union to initiate a discussion on more uniform application of the rules.
Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne: “The consumer has gained a central role in the Internal Market. Securing consumer confidence will be crucial in putting the European economy back on track. We must guarantee the economic rights of our 500 million consumers and provide them proper protection throughout the Internal Market. We need strong consumer enforcement to effectively stop unfair, misleading and damaging practices. The time has come for Member States to overcome fragmentation, to join forces and to give European consumer enforcement additional teeth.”
European Commissioner Dalli has also lined up in favour of this initiative: "Consumer laws will only deliver value for citizens if they are properly enforced. That's why I welcome the Belgian presidency's initiative to discuss challenges. I encourage everyone to seize this political momentum and drive consumer enforcement priorities forward with a view to securing an effective and uniform level of consumer protection throughout the EU."
In order to refine its analysis, the Belgian Presidency has taken the initiative of bringing together the cream of European decision-makers and authorities responsible for consumer protection for a high-level meeting during the European Consumer Protection Enforcement Day.
There will be a press point at the meeting during which Vincent VAN QUICKENBORNE, the Belgian Minister for the Economy and Administrative Simplification and the European Commission will present their goals.
You are cordially invited to this event.
The meeting with the press with take place at the Brussels SquareMeeting Centre on 22 September 2010 at 11 am.
Journalists can register at Coudenberg 2 starting at 10:30 am
Where
Journalists can register at Coudenberg 2 starting at 10:30 am.