# CE2004084EN.01061201.xml

| 3.4.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 84/612 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |

3.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 84/612

---

(2004/C 84 E/0687)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0522/04

by Graham Watson (ELDR) to the Commission

(24 February 2004)

Subject:   Prize draw mailing scams

Subject:

Companies across Europe are sending people letters advising them that they have won money in prize draws. Some citizens then send money, as they have been instructed to, but they do not receive the reward promised in the literature.

Has the Commission considered this matter recently? Will it submit proposals to protect citizens from such fraud?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(6 April 2004)

(6 April 2004)

As already stated in its answer to the Honourable Member's Written Question E-3814/02 (1), the Commission is fully aware of the widespread practice of fraudulent prize-winning draws where rogue traders seek to take advantage of the freedoms of the internal market. It has proposed legislation to tackle some of the problems involved with this.

1

Under current legislation, the practice in question appears to clearly infringe Council Directive 84/450/EEC of 10 September 1984 (2) as amended by Directive 97/55/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 6 October 1997 concerning misleading advertising so as to include comparative advertisement (3). In future, misleading advertising harming consumers' economic interests will be regulated by the proposed Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices (4), which will put in place a common, EU-wide framework providing a high level of consumer protection from such unfair practices.

2

3

4

However, the Commission cannot itself take action against the organiser of these prize-draws. The enforcement of national and Community consumer law is the task of the designated national courts and authorities.

Further to this previous answer, the Commission can inform the Honourable Member that it has adopted a proposal for a Regulation on co-operation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws (5). This Regulation is designed to address this type of problem through rapid cooperation between public authorities. Once adopted, this Regulation will allow the authority in charge of consumer protection to seek and receive the assistance of its counterpart in another Member State to cease business practices infringing Community consumer law that target consumers cross-border.

5

The so-called ‘qualified entities’ (6) may already seek an injunction requiring the cessation or prohibition of an infringement of Community consumer law under the terms of the Directive 98/27/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 19 May 1998, on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests (7). In a concrete example, the qualified entity of one Member State could ask the competent court of the Member State from which the mail originates to stop sending out misleading letters to its citizens.

6

7

---

(1)  OJ C 155 E, 3.7.2003.

1

(2)  OJ L 250, 19.9.1984.

2

(3)  OJ L 290, 23.10.1997.

3

(4)  COM(2003) 356 final.

4

(5)  COM(2003) 443 finai.

5

(6)  OJ C 159, 8.7.2003.

6

(7)  OJ L 166, 11.6.1998.

7

---