A4-0317/96

Resolution on the communication from the Commission on priorities for consumer policy (1996-1998) (COM(95)0519 - C4-0501/95)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the communication from the Commission, COM(95)0519 - C4- 0501/95),

- having regard to Article 129a of the EC Treaty,

- having regard to the Commission's work programme for 1996 ((OJ C 282, 26.9.1996, p. 4.)),

- having regard to the second Commission three-year action plan for consumers (1993-1995), COM(93)0378,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection and the opinions of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights and the Committee on Development and Cooperation (A4-0317/96),

1. Considers consumer protection to be one of the cornerstones of a genuine single market;

2. Welcomes the communication but regrets the lack of an assessment of the previous period and the absence of a timetable and concrete proposals to take consumer policy forward;

3. Urges the Commission to bring forward as soon as possible a detailed Action Plan, equal in scope to that of its predecessor, setting out proposals upon which it intends to act, and a timetable for their completion;

4. Notes that, applying the principle of subsidiarity (EC Treaty, Article 3b, second paragraph), the priority objectives and measures of a European consumer policy, particularly in view of the consequences of the single market for the consumer, can be attained more successfully at Community level than at Member State level; stresses that the subsidiarity principle must not be abused to prevent action in the interest of Europe's consumers;

A. Completion of work from the preceding period

5. Calls on the Commission to secure the rapid adoption of the Council Directive on distance selling and the Council Directive on comparative advertising and to come forward with a new proposal for a Directive on service liability;

6. Stresses that the creation of a single market for consumers must be advanced by thorough implementation and enforcement of consumer legislation in Member States and calls on the Commission to scrutinize the implementation process to ensure that consumers' interests are fully taken into account;

B. New priorities

7. Urges the Commission to focus on action under the following headings:

(a) Facilitating access to justice

8. Calls on the Commission to pay greater attention in the future to whether the Member States transpose directives promptly; this is the only way of guaranteeing that consumers enjoy a minimum of protection and can also insist on such protection throughout the Union;

9. Believes that, at an initial stage, all Member States must implement the international conventions referred to in the Commission communication 'Action Plan on the access of consumers to justice and the settlement of consumer disputes in the single market¨ (COM(96)0013 - C4-0195/96);

10. Calls on the Commission to adopt swiftly the Directive on injunctions, and to complete the measures needed to secure for consumers access to justice inside the courts through legislative actions to:

- secure the mutual recognition of conditions for receiving legal aid,

- enable consumer organisations as well as public bodies to bring class actions,

- establish the right to sue for infringements of Community law;

11. Calls on the Commission to reduce the periods set out in Annex I to the abovementioned action plan on consumer access to justice, containing an indicative timetable concerning measures to be taken to implement the initiatives envisaged therein, since the observation period for the promotion of out-of-court procedures is too long;

12. Calls on the Commission to consider the concept of legal expenses insurance;

13. Calls on the Commission to come forward with legislation to secure the establishment of EU-wide legal and commercial guarantees;

(b) Representing consumers' financial interests

14. Calls on the Commission to come forward with legislation that:

- renders mandatory the 1988 Recommendation on payment systems,

- regulates the sales of financial services at a distance,

- establishes a single mathematical formula for calculating APR (Annual Percentage Rate) across the EU;

15. Calls on the Commission to follow up the Green Paper on mortgage credit with concrete action to enable consumers to participate in the single European market;

16. Believes that adherence to payment periods in commercial transactions is essential for the achievement of a genuine single market and calls on the Commission, therefore, to consider measures which allow for statutory interest payments to creditors which would be automatic and appropriate as a penalty for non-payment. Such measures should encourage legal recognition of compensation for costs incurred in connection with the recovery of debts in accordance with tariffed fees to be determined by a suitable public authority;

17. Believes that the Commission should consider the possibility of harmonizing legal procedures for the recovery of late payments and the costs these entail;

18. Calls on the Commission to follow up its report (COM(95)0117) on the operation of Directive 87/102/EEC on consumer credit ((OJ L 42, 12.2.1987, p. 48.)) by amending the Directive, particularly with regard to its scope and its provisions concerning advertising and information, types of credit agreements, the cooling-off period, improvements to the rules on default, usury, over- indebtedness, protection of privacy and consumer intermediaries;

19. Welcomes the public awareness campaign that the Commission and Parliament are conducting regarding the introduction of the Euro and supports in this respect the decentralized approach which makes it possible to tailor information to local consumers;

(c) Converting consumer information into consumer power

20. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the Citizen's First Information Campaign has a strong consumer dimension and that it takes into account the lessons from the evaluation of the 1995 radio campaign on consumer issues;

21. Calls on the Commission to base its information campaign on organisations consisting of representatives of consumers in whom they have confidence;

22. Calls on the Commission to develop the network of cross-border information centres providing free legal advice and information to consumers;

23. Calls on the Commission to take measures to improve the systematic integration of consumer representatives into decision-making structures and to take action to ensure that decision-making is open and transparent;

24. Stresses the importance of promoting strong consumer associations in the developing countries as an important instrument to contribute towards the marketing of safer and healthier products and a more sustainable development;

25. Calls on the Commission to come forward with proposals for a product safety network to coordinate action in this field;

26. Asks the Commission to launch consciousness-raising campaigns to stimulate the use of durable products and to encourage consumers to use environment- friendly products;

(d) Promoting a sustainable food policy in the interests of consumers

27. Calls on the Commission to support the establishment of an independent food safety agency at European level;

28. Believes that it is essential to impose greater control on dangerous or unsafe European products marketed in developing countries with the aim of gradually imposing the same standards - as regards safety, health and the environment - as those applied to products marketed in the European Union; demands in this regard that European legislation allowing double standards be eliminated;

29. Calls on the Commission to take concrete action to develop and promote sustainable products and services;

30. Believes in this context that fair-trade operations should be promoted both in the developing countries and in the European Union, so that European consumers are fully aware of these new ways of producing and trading;

31. Calls on the Commission to present without delay its long-announced Green Paper on future food legislation in which consumer protection issues should be of prime importance;

32. Calls on the Commission to undertake, after a thorough evaluation, a review of existing legislation and the establishment of new legislation on labelling, considering among other things the increasing number of citizens with allergies and the fact that very few consumers understand the present system of E codes, and also that many consumers are expressing growing concern about the ethical and environmental implications and the origin of what they eat, bearing the following considerations in mind:

- the Commission is under an obligation - to date neglected - clearly expressed in Article 8 of Directive 94/36/EC on colours for use in foodstuffs, to launch a campaign, in conjunction with the European Parliament, national ministries, the food and retail industries and consumer bodies, to inform consumers about the evaluation and authorization procedures for permitted colours, and the meaning of the 'E' number system,

- the information on the label must at least be such as to afford the consumer the possibility of making a conscious, well-founded choice regarding a certain product,

- the label must warn the consumer in a universally accessible and understandable way of any health or safety risk attaching to a product,

- the amount of information on a label must not be such that warnings that are really important for the safety and health of the consumer are difficult to distinguish from purely informative and, for the consumer, irrelevant information,

- the relevant information should be investigated and selected for each case and for each group of products in the light of the above considerations and should consequently be included on the label;

33. Stresses that the revision and simplification of food labelling legislation announced by the Commission must take full account of the principle of a high level of consumer protection (EC Treaty, Article 129a) and must therefore provide the consumer with complete information;

34. Calls on the Commission to come forward with legislation to regulate food claims and environmental claims and to take measures to promote the development of the eco-label;

(e) Securing consumer access to a universal service

35. Calls on the Commission urgently to agree a single basic definition of universal service that guarantees access to all consumers, everywhere and at an affordable price;

36. Asks the Commission to lay down as soon as possible rules making providers of public services - both public and private undertakings - liable in the event of misconduct in the carrying out of the public service so that the consumer, who in many cases is dependent on such service, is guaranteed a certain protection;

37. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.