No C 101/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 4. 86 
Opinion on the draft Council resolution concerning consumer education in primary and 
secondary schools (') 
(86/C 101/06) 
Procedure 
On 27 August 1985 the Council of the European Communities decided to consult the Economic and 
Social Committee, under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic 
Community, on the draft Council resolution concerning consumer education in primary and 
secondary schools. 
The Section for Social Questions, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on 
the matter, adopted its opinion on 13 February 1986 in the light of the report by Mrs Rangoni-
Machiavelli. 
At its 234th Plenary Session held on 26 and 27 February 1986 (meeting of 26 February) the 
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by a majority, with one abstention. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. The Commission document refers to both edu­
cation and information: what are the relevant differences ? 
Information provides the facts, whereas education teaches 
you how to use and apply what you have learned. 
Consumer education should also make it clear how the 
consumer develops these abilities, and highlight problems 
of income structure and employment policy that need to be 
solved. Information provides details, both general and 
specific, whereas education develops methods of under­
standing, application, techniques and systems such as 
decision-making and problem-solving. Information tends 
to be 'vertical', education 'horizontal'. Education has to 
deal with the collection and appraisal of information, 
taking into account the nature of its source (bearing in 
mind that a great deal of consumer information comes from 
producers, manufacturers and advertisers). 
1.2. Consumer education does not consist solely of wise 
shopping, good housekeeping, money management... It is 
all these things and many more. It also implies the 
development of critical awareness. As the Council of 
Europe, for instance, put it: 
'What we can and should do is to make sure that 
tomorrow's citizens are furnished with the basic tools 
of knowledge and appreciation which will enable 
them to exercise their freedom of choice and their 
personal and collective responsibilities in the light of 
the different options and the manifold problems 
which will face them as consumers — not only in 
today's but in tomorrow's society'. 
1.3. In addition, education of the young needs to view 
children and adolescents in relation to work and commerce 
and business and production besides fostering social 
awareness of the things they buy and the services they use as 
shoppers, clients, patients... Children are citizens too and 
(!) OJ No C 238, 19. 9. 1985, p. 2. one of the main tasks of education is to help them to grow 
up into free and responsible individuals. 
2. General Comments 
2.1. More than 10 years after the birth of a Community 
consumer protection policy, the Committee could have 
expected a Directive rather than a resolution on consumer 
education. However, it has to be admitted that the differing 
practices and structures of the Member States' school 
systems make it far from easy at this stage to frame a 
standard Community programme. All that has therefore 
been done for the time being is to outline the general 
principles to underpin consumer education. The Com­
mittee therefore welcomes the Commission text and 
endorses the main points put forward in the draft 
resolution. 
2.2. The Committee hopes that the development and 
exchange of information on consumer education, on the 
one hand, and progress along the path of integration, on the 
other, will make it possible in the near future to lay down 
norms for this major issue in the shape of a Directive 
enshrining the principles and general guidelines. Looking 
ahead too to the attainment of a single Community market, 
such norms are necessary. 
2.3. The information and education offered in schools 
should take account of all the opportunities available to the 
future consumer within the family. Consumption is after all 
to a very great extent determined by the consumer's way of 
life, his family and social ties and his disposable income. 
These factors determine the horizons and expectations of 
the young person and have a decisive influence on his 
behaviour as a consumer. The family does not just 
participate in this process but determines how successful 
consumer education for the young will be. Consumer 
policy ought, therefore, to keep the family constantly in 
mind and distinguish between the needs and opportunities 
of different families — according to whether they are urban 
or rural, large or small, old or young and whether they are 
28. 4. 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 101/15 
affected by unemployment — to ensure that the social 
solidarity aspect is not overlooked. 
2.4. The Committee points out that consumer education 
fulfils a vital socio-economic function. It also contributes to 
smooth operation of the market, and expansion in terms of 
a higher standard of products and services. For this 
purpose, producers — as well as entrepreneurs in all sectors 
directly or indirectly linked with the market-place — 
should be involved in framing the Community programme. 
The Committee also advocates the drawing-up of advertis­
ing standards, taking special heed of the impact of 
advertisements on children. 
2.5. As measures to introduce consumer education are 
in the general interest, the Committee feels that a 
Community programme backed by adequate funds needs 
to be set up. 
2.6. The Commission's document rightly stresses the 
importance of understanding the socio-economic environ­
ment and regards consumer education as one of the five 
basic consumer rights recognized by the Community 
institutions in the first and second consumer protection 
programmes adopted by the Council. Special attention 
must therefore be focused on the five components of this 
fundamental right, namely: 
— critical and economic awareness, 
— action and involvement, 
— social responsibility, 
— ecological responsibility, 
— social solidarity and cooperation. 
2.7. However, the points listed in the final resolution, 
albeit important, are too specific. In particular, there is a 
conspicuous lack of any reference to the cultural dimension 
of life, historically so important for the further develop­
ment of the Community. The Committee considers it 
essential that all cultural aspects of life should be 
considered on an equal footing with the economic and 
social components. 
In order to follow through its own philosophy adequately, 
the Resolution should aim to educate young people to the 
economic and social realities of the environment in which 
they will have to live. Children must learn to overcome 
their natural selfishness not only through the teaching of 
moral values but also by being given a basic idea of the 
economic and social mechanisms of our society. 
In this connection, the Committee would stress the need: 
— to move away from a strictly commercial, industrial 
concept of consumption and to foster a greater 
awareness of social values and others' needs, 
— for consumer education to take account of and provide 
information on, the inter-relationship between the value of consumer goods and the varying ecological and social 
practices involved in their production, distribution, 
usage and disposal (e.g. pollutive aspects, working 
conditions, etc.). 
2.8. Consumer education should also include education 
for a life rich in leisure and in cultural, sport and other 
opportunities. The Commission would therefore be well-
advised to widen the aims of consumer education for the 
young not just a 'transition from education into working 
life', but into adult life. 
The Commission does not define what it means by 'young 
consumers'. Though there are different ages in Member 
States at which children start school, it would have been 
interesting to see practical confirmation of the idea that 
consumer education should start as early as possible in the 
primary school. Primary schools have much to commend 
them here since there is generally far more freedom to 
operate, few restrictions imposed by timetables and 
examinations, a greater emphasis on basic teaching and 
children are at a stage when they are immensely curious 
about the world about them. Primary schools have inbuilt 
the multidisciplinary approach that the Commission refers 
to and which is more difficult to achieve at a later stage 
within a more rigid system. 
2.9. The Commission is wise in stressing that there is no 
intention of seeking to establish detailed curricula, limiting 
objectives to experimentation, exchange of information, 
setting out guidelines, outlining content and considering 
method. It would be useful also to include a reference to the 
importance of informal consumer education for young 
people outside school (e.g. via broadcasts and magazines). 
It is also essential to stress that consumer education is for all 
children, boys as well as girls. 
2.10 The Commission does not broach the question of 
school examinations on consumer education for the young. 
In the Committee's view, it is undesirable to introduce a 
new subject. It would be preferable to incorporate a 
consumer dimension into a multidisciplinary approach. 
2.11. Without any doubt new and existing teachers will 
need special training in method and content. By encourag­
ing a consumer emphasis in a wider range of further and 
higher education subjects (not exclusively at universities) 
there will in due course be a work force available to deal 
with the demands of teaching consumer education. (But 
there is no current answer to the question: who trains the 
trainers ?) 
In any event, the priorities must be teacher training and 
resource materials in the immediate future, which should 
be promoted and directed at national level, enriched by 
constant exchanges and contacts with other Member States 
('biennial' fairs, along with festivals, exhibitions, etc. to 
display and publicise consumer education and training aids 
and techniques). The use of new visual media techniques 
(telematics, computers, etc.) which have a forceful impact, 
is to be recommended. It would also be useful to make 
No C 101/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 4. 86 
contact with other pilot educational experiments in, the 
EEC, such as Tempo (the new European electronic learning 
system) and enable teachers to build onto the resource 
materials supplied by producers and distributors of 
software and services. The development of data banks and 
automatic data processing will also permit as objective an 
assessment as possible to be made on the basis of 
increasingly detailed information. 
3. Specific comments on the resolution 
3.1. Second 'whereas' clause: the implied definition in 
'to enable consumers to act in a discriminating manner...' is 
certainly true but rather restrictive in the light of earlier 
background comments and needs to be expanded by 
saying, e.g. 'as a citizen in the socio-economic context'. 
3.2. Fourth 'whereas' clause: the use of the word 
'systematic' can be questioned. Consumer education 
organized on a systematic basis may well be desirable and a 
target to aim at; but in practice it is at present (bearing in 
mind that the resolution probably refers to the next three 
years) very hard to devise for six to sixteen year olds a 
progressive, coordinated course, especially if consumer 
education is multidisciplinary or integrated. The use of 
'systematic' hints too much at the rigidity and imposition 
that the sixth 'whereas' clause indicates it is so necessary to 
avoid. The wording of this part of the recitals needs to be 
reviewed. 
3.3. Fifth 'whereas' clause: the Commission's experi­
ments have related to older children in primary schools 
from 10 upwards and do not — it seems — include the five 
to nine age group (a formative stage, at which the child is 
highly receptive). The intent is fine, but too many claims 
should not be made for experiments which have not taken 
place (except in the Nordic countries). The Committee 
would wish the Commission to study and investigate in 
greater depth such research into this age group. 
3.4. Ninth 'whereas' clause: the word 'experiments' 
should be changed to 'pilot schemes', thus using the 
Commission's own earlier terminology. The use of the 
word 'experiments' in this context gives a false impression 
of the content. 'Teachers will need appropriate material' is 
certainly true, but training must also provide them with the 
skills to devise their own. Community action could also 
include the setting-up of a documentation centre which 
could include a data bank, drawing on all sources 
concerned with consumer education and information. 
3.5. Clause 1: first line — substitute 'promote' for 
'ensure'; third line — see previous comments (para. 3.3. of 
this document) on the use of the word 'systematically'; and add: 'for children of either sex throughout the period of 
compulsory education'. 
3.6. Page 7, clause 2: Remove the word 'necessarily' 
because new subjects can cause fear, controversy, expense 
and reorganization. Moreover, it is at variance with the 
remark on page 3, para. 1, which refers to 'a multidiscip­
linary approach can be used avoiding the introduction of a 
new subject'. The use of 'may' is a little cautious and could 
be reworded more positvely 'benefiting from'. 
3.7. Page 7, clause 3: The word 'responsibly' should be 
inserted after 'influencing behaviour' as information alone 
is not enough. It must be assimilated and action taken 
accordingly. 'Practical' and 'specific' are both valid, but 
they are not enough on their own. The following wording 
could be suggested: 'practical an reality-based as well as 
wide-ranging and specific'. 
3.8. On the indents: 
(a) Reword 'particularly through health and nutrition 
education and the avoidance of the commonest risks 
associated with the use of consumer products and 
certain services'. 
(b) Add 'marketing' to 'production and distribution'. 
(c) Divide the fourth indent into two items, the first 
containing the phrase: 'information supplied by 
producers and providers of services', and the second, the 
reworded phrase: 'information supplied by the public 
authorities and governments on the laws ...'. 
(d) Add 'consumer and other appropriate organizations 
and their affiliated bodies'. 
(e) As all these indents together make a list of fairly specific 
proposals, add a seventh indent with the broader base 
the Commission elsewhere sees as essential: e.g. 
'learning how to cope with continuing social and 
economic change (new technology and new forms of 
credit, new methods of communication, un­
employment...)'. Consideration could also be given to 
adding a phrase relating to the importance of being able 
to look beyond Europe and come to terms with living in 
an interdependant world. 
28. 4. 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 101/17 
3.9. Final paragraph: remove 'questions' and replace 
'university' by 'further and higher education' on the 
grounds that universities alone are not responsible for the 
Done at Brussels, 26 February 1986. 
1. General comments 
1.1. In the Committee's view, the 10th Report on the 
ERDF (1975 to 1984) is more important and decisive than 
the previous ERDF reports produced by the Commission. 
The Committee values the analyses contained in the report. 
Its distinguishing features are its review of the first decade 
of ERDF activities and its account of the new perspectives 
opened up by the revised ERDF Regulation. 
1.2. The Committee would reiterate that the purpose of 
the ERDF is to help correct the principal regional 
imbalances resulting in particular from the predominance 
of agriculture, industrial change and structural under­
employment. 
1.3. The Committee would once again point out that 
although the European Community has been in existence 
for 27 years, and has had a regional policy for 10 years, the 
above objective has not yet been achieved. On the contrary, 
economic imbalances between the various regions of the 
Community have actually increased. The persistent 
economic recession has also contibuted to the aggravation 
of regional disparities. 
1.4. The problem of disadvantaged regions has become 
more widespread in the present 12-member Community, as 
the percentage of the Community's population living in 
such regions has doubled. According to Commission training (whether basic or in-service) of teachers in all 
Member States. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Gerd MUHR 
estimates, the numbers living in such regions have increased 
from 24 million in 1980 to 50 million in 1986 (10th Report, 
page 1). 
1.5. The convergence of economic development levels 
should be the Community's prime aim. The internal market 
cannot be successfully completed without simultaneously 
promoting the economic convergence of the regions and 
Member States of the Community. 
1.6. The Committee would point out that the ERDF was 
set up much later than the other Community financing 
instruments which have an impact on the regions, and that 
it has been operating at a time of pronounced economic 
recession and stagflation which has severely affected the 
less-developed countries and regions and those in industrial 
decline. 
1.7. The Committee would emphasize on the one hand 
that ERDF interventions have not been sufficiently effective 
or sufficiently coordinated with the other structural funds 
and financing instruments and, on the other, that the 
inadequacy of its resources has prevented it from attaining 
maximum effectiveness. As an instrument designed to 
correct regional imbalances, the ERDF has tended to play a 
repressive rather than a preventive role. 
1.8. Despite the scale of the economic recession which is 
afflicting the Community and the constant increase in 
regional needs, growth in the fund's resources has been 
virtually non-existent in practical terms. As a result, the Opinion on the 10th Report from the Commission on the European Regional Development 
Fund (1984) 
(86/C 101/07) 
Procedure 
On 9 October 1985 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 10th Report 
from the Commission on the European Regional Development Fund (1984). 
The Section for Regional Development, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's 
work on the subject, adopted its draft opinion on 14 February 1986, in the light of the opinion by 
Mr A. Kamizolas (Rapporteur). 
At the 234th Plenary Session of 26 to 27 February 1986 (meeting of 26 February 1986), the 
Committee adopted the following opinion by a large majority, with two votes against and no 
abstentions: