# EUR-Lex - 52011SC1321 - EN

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# 52011SC1321

**COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT /* SEC/2011/1321 final */**

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Disclaimer
This Impact Assessment report commits only the Commission’s services involved
in its preparation and the text is prepared as a basis for comment and does not
prejudge the final form of any decision to be taken by the Commission.

1. 
Problem definition

The post-2013 Consumer Programme (hereafter the
"Programme") will support the implementation of DG SANCO action in
the field of consumer policy from 2014 onwards. It builds on the results
achieved though the current (2007-2013) Programme.

The new Programme will support the future
consumer policy placing EU citizens as empowered consumers at the centre of the
Single Market and complement initiatives focussing on the supply side.

There is a need for some continuity between the
current and future Programmes, in line with the results of the mid-term
evaluation of the 2007-2013 Strategy and Programme which underlines that the
policy is relatively young at EU level and that continuity is key to achieving
impact.

At the same time, new societal challenges have
grown in importance, such as the increased complexity of decision making
(information overload; more responsibility shifted to consumers following
liberalisation; sophisticated products, services and advertising), the need to
move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption, the opportunities and
threats brought by the development of digitalisation, an increase in social
exclusion and the number of vulnerable consumers and an ageing population.

The main problems to be addressed through the
funding of actions under the new Programme are the following:

i)       Safety

Differences between
Member States in enforcing product safety legislation, the presence of unsafe
products on the Single Market, risks linked to the globalisation of the
production chain require the authorities to cooperate more effectively in order
to stop dangerous products from entering the Single Market and ensure adequate
action whenever such dangerous products appear on the market. Need to examine
the opportunity to develop initiatives in the field of services safety. Lack of
an adequate structure at EU level to ensure the best value of EU co-financing.

ii)      Consumer information and
education

· 
Underdeveloped consumer markets monitoring

Lack of robust and good quality data and
analysis on the functioning of the Single Market for consumers;

· 
Insufficient capacity of consumer
organisations, including lack of resources and expertise, notably in the
new Member States;

· 
Lack of transparent, comparable, reliable and
user-friendly information for consumers, particularly for cross-border
cases; poor knowledge and understanding of key consumer rights and
protection measures by consumers and retailers alike; uncertainty about the
degree of trustworthiness of "shortcuts" (such as comparison
websites), in particular in the digital area;

· 
Inadequacy of current EU consumer education
tools, especially with regards to the developments of the digital environment.

iii)     Consumer
rights and redress

· 
Sub-optimal protection of consumer rights,
in particular in cross-border situations;

· 
Need to further improve the integration
of consumer interests in EU policies;

· 
Problems faced by consumers when trying to
secure redress, notably cross-border.

iv)      Enforcement

· 
CPC Network
(network of national enforcement authorities) not used to its full potential;

· 
Low awareness about ECC-Net (network of
European Consumer Centres) among consumers, need to strengthen its
effectiveness. Administrative burden and lack of stability of the financing
linked to the current co-financing process.

v)       Conclusion:
the focus of the actions under the Consumer Programme

While the problems to be tackled by consumer
policy are of multiple kinds and of broad scale, as mentioned above, the
relatively small size of the Consumer Programme means that actions to be financed
under this Programme have to be targeted on specific areas where
intervention at EU level can make a difference and add value.

The selected areas for actions are of three
kinds:

1)       Actions corresponding to legal
obligations imposed by the Treaty and the existing EU acquis in the field of
consumer protection.

· 
Financing the maintenance and proper functioning
of the RAPEX Network, of the CPC Network of enforcement authorities and of the
cosmetics databases.

2)       Actions which are not or could not be
undertaken at national level because of their EU level character:

· 
Assisting consumers on cross-border issues by:

-  co-financing of the operation of the Network
of European Consumer Centres (ECCs). National authorities or consumer
organisations are usually not in a position to provide advice and support to
consumers on cross-border issues

-  establishing and operation of an ODR
platform dealing also with cross-border cases

· 
Developing cooperation with international
partners to deal with the impact of the globalisation of the production chain
on product safety

· 
Supporting the production of EU-level comparable
consumer markets data for benchmarking between Member States and input into
EU-level policy-making

· 
Ensuring an EU-level representation of consumer
interest by financially supporting EU-level consumer organisations

3)       Actions complementing and enhancing
the efficiency of measures undertaken at national level:

· 
Coordination and co-financing of joint actions
in the field of product safety and of consumer rights enforcement
("Sweeps")

· 
Supporting awareness-raising campaigns on
consumer issues with Member States and other stakeholders and working with
intermediaries to contribute to the provisions of clear, transparent and
reliable information to consumers

· 
Supporting the training national consumer
organisations, which would be much more costly at national level without
economy of scale

· 
Providing a platform for exchange and sharing of
good practices in the field of consumer education.

2. 
Subsidiarity test and added
value

The EU action is based on article 169 and 12 of
TFEU.

The beneficiaries of the Programme will be consumers,
national authorities in charge of consumer protection and consumer
organisations, with the overarching objective of improving the situation of
consumers throughout the EU. The Programme will offer support to consumer
organisations at EU and national level, as well as Member States national
authorities in charge of product safety and enforcement. The Programme will
also de facto benefit reputable and innovative businesses, as effective
consumer policy supports the proper functioning of the Single Market. Finally,
economic operators will benefit from a level playing field based on clear rules
and better coordinated enforcement. In this context, the Programme will
contribute to stimulating the economic growth.

The Programme will support the objectives of
the future consumer policy dealing with the demand side of the Single Market.

i)       Product
safety

The operation of the RAPEX system by the
Commission is one of the obligations stemming from the General Product Safety
Directive (GPSD) and Regulation 765/2008. Without financial support, activities
would not be undertaken at the necessary level and frequency to improve market
surveillance cooperation and ensure a more uniform enforcement of product
safety legislation.

Action at EU level and cooperation through the
GPSD network delivers better results than a series of individual actions by
Member States since it fills information gaps, including using information collected
by other countries (e.g. China), and avoids disparities in the Single Market.
This is essential to a genuinely level playing field for businesses. It
produces a consistent approach to the risks from consumer products and offers
consumers throughout the EU a high level of protection.

ii)      Consumer
education and information

· 
Consumer market monitoring: in order to put consumer outcomes central in the Single Market,
better data and the monitoring of the demand-side of the Single Market further
need to be developed. Only at EU level can comparable data collection and
analysis be undertaken to provide overall analysis of the functioning of the
Single Market as well as the establishment of benchmarks. The harmonised
methodology for classifying and reporting consumer complaints will contribute
to this objective.

In general, the data is designed to be
sufficiently robust and representative to be used not only at EU but also at
national level. Policy-specific behavioural research and testing provides
practical tools to develop smarter regulation.

· 
Support to consumer organisations: A strong and coherent representation from the consumer movement at EU level provides a consolidated consumer
input into EU policy-making, EU institutions and EU-level dialogues.

It also ensures direct empowerment and support
to the particularly weak organisations in the new Member States. Capacity
building actions for national consumer organisations (capacity-building)
complements national initiatives, leads to economy of scale, supports the
development of trans-national networks between participants, including for
mentoring and peer-review.

· 
Consumer education and information

EU consumer information and education
initiatives increase consumer knowledge and confidence in cross-border transactions,
thus supporting the completion of the Single Market. They facilitate best
practice sharing between Member States and will contribute to the creation of a
single, coherent and authoritative source of information/education at EU level.

iii)     Consumer
rights and redress

· 
Ensuring a high level of consumer protection,
in line with Article 169 TFEU.

· 
The integration of consumer interests is
an obligation stemming from article 12 TFEU.

· 
Redress: the
existing studies point to the need of strengthening redress opportunities for
consumers. In this context; the Commission will consider initiatives in the
field of Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADR) and On-line Dispute Resolution
(ODR).

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) will offer
consumers and businesses a cheap, rapid and easy way of getting redress
out-of-court throughout the EU. ADR schemes respecting core quality principles
will be available for all disputes, thus ensuring a level playing field.

The establishment of an Online Dispute
Resolution (ODR) platform will allow national ADR schemes to handle
cross-border disputes related to the online sale of goods or services more
effectively, by handling the procedure entirely online. The financing of a
European platform will allow having a co-ordinated approach and create
economies of scales and synergies both of which can only result from action at
EU level.

iv)      Enforcement

· 
The Commission is tasked with the management of
the CPC network (network of national enforcement authorities). The CPC
Regulation also provides for joint projects, joint enforcement actions and
exchange of officials. The organisation of joint actions between several Member
States such as the "Sweeps" (co-financed by the Programme and the
Member States) is an effective tool in this respect.

· 
The ECC-Net (network of European Consumer
Centres), co-financed by the Commission and the Member States, provides a
European network informing consumers about their rights when shopping
across-borders and supporting them in seeking redress with a trader in another
EU Member State when something goes wrong. National consumer associations do
not help consumers in cross-border cases. The network covers all Member States
and therefore it secures EU-wide support for consumers and promotion of their
rights.

3. 
Policy Objectives

The Programme should support the general
objective of the future consumer policy which places the empowered
consumer at the centre of the Single Market. European consumer policy
supports and complements national policy by seeking to ensure European citizens
can fully reap the benefits of the Single Market and that in so doing, their
safety and economic interests are properly protected.

The actions will support the following four
specific objectives:

i)          Safety: to consolidate
and enhance product safety through effective market surveillance throughout the
Union;

ii)         Information and education:
to improve consumers' education, information and awareness of their rights, to
develop the evidence base for consumer policy and to provide support to consumer
organisations;

iii)         Rights and redress: to
consolidate consumer rights in particular through regulatory action and
improving access to redress including alternative dispute resolution;

iv)        Enforcement: to support
enforcement of consumer rights by strengthening cooperation between national
enforcement bodies and by supporting consumers with advice.

These objectives are fully supportive to
Europe 2020 as regards growth and competitiveness. They will integrate Europe
2020 specific concerns on digital agenda (ensure that digitalisation
actually leads to increased consumer welfare), sustainable growth
(moving towards more sustainable patterns of consumption), social inclusion
(taking into account the specific situation of vulnerable consumers and the
need of an ageing population), smart regulation (consumer market
monitoring actions to help designing smart, and targeted regulations).

4. 
Policy options

Baseline scenario

The baseline scenario corresponds to the option
1 for the initiatives under the 4 specific objectives. Under this option,
the majority of actions conducted under the 2007-2013 Programme are pursued,
with some adaptation. Some actions are substantially reduced or no longer
implemented because they are no longer relevant, while some new actions are launched
with a limited level of ambition (for instance on redress). It corresponds to a
budget equal to or lower than the one provided under the current Programme.

The effects of the following societal
changes means that the impact of similar actions to those conducted under the
2007-2013 Programme will be affected or reduced: increased globalisation of the
production chain and the growing importance of services in the field of safety;
the increased complexity of decision making; the necessity to move towards more
sustainable patterns of consumption, the specific needs of vulnerable and
ageing consumers; the development of digitalisation, on-line shopping and
intermediaries.

Although it is difficult to make forecast
for the period 2014 and beyond, it is to be expected that the pressure on
resources will continue among national administrations dealing with consumer
policy issues, for instance on market surveillance and enforcement. Consumer
organisations are in danger of seeing financial support by national authorities
being substantially cut, in particular in new Member States. In time of
economic uncertainty, manufacturers cut corners and might more frequently have
recourse to fraud, people tend to buy cheaper goods and be subject to scams.

Other options:

When considering globally the elements
under each of the four objectives of the programme, the other options can be
summarised as follows:

-           The option 0 corresponds
to the absolute minimum actions to be financed resulting from the legal
obligations imposed by the Treaty and the existing EU acquis in the field of
consumer protection.

-           The
option 2 corresponds to a more ambitious approach in line with
Commission priorities (Europe 2020, Single Market Act) and the on-going
reflection on the future of consumer policy[1]. The budget under this option is around 25 millions euros annually.

-           The
option 3 would require an increase of budget compare to the current
programme for additional actions on some of the components of the programme
such as: the development of a public consumer product safety database; redress:
setting a fund to support the financing of cross-border redress actions.

The
Communication COM(2011)500 of 29/06/2011 allocated 175 millions (in constant
2011 prices) to the Consumer Programme for the period 2014-2020.

The option 3
which had been initially considered has therefore been discarded since it did
not fit with this allocation.

5. 
Comparing the Options

The choice of the preferred option under the
four objectives of the Programme is summarised below.

Option 0, which correspond to maintaining the
minimum level of intervention imposed by the law and discontinuing a number of
actions at EU level, would cause a reduction of EU support to consumer policy,
and would contravene the EU commitments expressed notably in the Europe 2020
Strategy and the Single Market Act as well as the conclusions of the evaluation
of the current Consumer Policy Strategy and the existing financial programme.
It would fail to guarantee an adequate support to the future consumer policy
currently under preparation.

Option 1, corresponding to a budget equal to or
lower than the current Programme, would not allow addressing satisfactorily the
challenges faced by consumers and consumer policy makers in the next years
while option 3, corresponding to a substantial increase of the consumer budget,
may not be realistic and entails substantial additional costs not commensurate
with the attached additional benefits.

Option 2 (corresponding to option 2 for each of
the actions) is the best option from a cost/benefit point of view. The budget
under this option would be around 25 millions euro annually, which is in line
with the proposed budget allocation for the consumer programme in the
Communication COM(2011)500 of 29/06/2011. It also addresses the problems
identified with regards to the administration of funds: partnerships
agreements, currently used for the support to EU consumer organisations, could
also be used for the co-financing of ECCs; the creation of an EU level
coordination body for market surveillance relating to safety should also lead
to a streamlining of the funding process in this area.

The possibility to use lump sums whenever
possible will be examined so as to reduce the administrative burden.

The management by the Executive Agency for
Health and Consumers also contributes to the streamlining of procedures in the
management of the funding process.

Under this option, the Programme will be able
to support the objectives of Europe 2020 and of the future consumer policy,
focussing on safety, information and education, rights and redress and
enforcement.

6. 
Monitoring and evaluation

The Programme will foresee a mid-term and an
ex-post evaluation.

The ex-post evaluation of the current
(2007-2013) Programme (foreseen before end 2015) will also provide useful
elements for the implementation of the next Programme.

A set of indicators has been defined for the
four specific objectives of the Programme to monitor its implementation:

Objective 1:      Safety - to consolidate
and enhance product safety through effective market surveillance throughout the
Union

Indicator || Source || Current situation || Target

% of RAPEX notifications entailing at least one reaction (by other Member States) || RAPEX || 43% (843 notifications) in 2010 || Increase of 10% in 7 years

Ratio number of reactions / number of notifications (serious risks)* || RAPEX || 107.5% in 2010 || Increase of 15% in 7 years

*
a notification usually triggers several reactions from authorities from other
Member States

Objective 2:      Information and education
- to improve consumers' education, information and awareness of their rights,
to develop the evidence base for consumer policy and to provide support to
consumer organisations

Indicator || Source || Current situation || Target

Number of complaint bodies submitting complaints to the ECCRS || ECCRS (European Consumer Complaints Registration system) || na || 60% of complaint bodies in 7 years

Trust in cross-border transactions - % of consumers who are equally confident or more confident in making an internet purchase from sellers from another EU country || Consumer Eurobarometer || 37% in 2010 || 50% in 7 years

Objective 3:      Rights and redress - to
consolidate consumer rights in particular through regulatory action and
improving access to redress including alternative dispute resolution

Indicator || Source || Current situation || Target

% of cross-border cases referred to ADR by ECCs || Annual ECC report || 9% in 2010 || 50% in 7 years

Number of cases dealt with by the ODR platform || Database ODR platform || 17.500 (complaints received by ECCs related to e-commerce transactions) in 2010 || 38.500 (+120%) in 7 years

Objective 4:      Enforcement - to support
enforcement of consumer rights by strengthening cooperation between national
enforcement bodies and by supporting consumers with advice

Indicator || Source || Current situation || Target

Level of information flow and cooperation within the CPC Network: - number of requests to exchange information between CPC authorities - number of requests for enforcement measures between CPC authorities - number of alerts within the CPC network || CPC Network Database (CPCS) || annualised averages of 2007-2010: - 129 - 142 - 63 || - increase of 40% in 7 years - increase of 40% in 7 years - increase of 30% in 7 years

Number of contacts with consumers handled by the European Consumer Centres (ECC) || ECC report || 71.000 in 2010 || Increase of 50% in 7 years

[1]               which might take the form of a Consumer Agenda to be
published in 2012.