No C 298/48 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 11. 89 
Opinion on consumer information and advice in the context 
of the completion of the Internal Market 
(89/C 298/13) 
On 27 October 1988 the Economic and Social Committee, acting under the fourth paragraph 
of Article 20 of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an Opinion on consumer 
information and advice in the context of the completion of the Internal Market. 
The Section for Protection of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs, which 
was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 
5 September 1989. The rapporteur was Mr Hilkens. 
At its 269th plenary session (meeting of 28 September 1989) the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following Opinion by a large majority with 18 abstentions. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. Since its initiation in 1975, EC consumer policy 
has always had consumer information as one of its 
priorities. The first EC programme for a consumer 
protection and information policy 1975-1980 (*) estab­
lished the following principles. 
Sufficient information should be made available to the 
consumers of goods or services to enable them to: 
— assess the basic features of the goods and services 
offered, such as nature, quality, quantity and price, 
— make a rational choice between competing products 
and services, 
— use these products safely and to their satisfaction, 
— claim redress for any injury resulting from the prod­
uct or service supplied. 
1.2. This policy was also confirmed by the sub­
sequent EC consumer programmes, and the Economic 
and Social Committee has always endorsed this 
approach in its Opinions, in particular in its Opinions 
on the first (2) and second (3) consumer action pro­
grammes, on consumer accidents (4), on the exchange 
of information on consumer products (5), the producer-
consumer dialogue (6) and the general safety require­
ments for products (7), as well as in its Opinions on 
several more specific subjects. 
(!) OJ No C 92, 25. 4. 1975. 
(2) OJ No C 152, 29. 6. 1977. 
(3) OJ No C 83, 2. 4. 1980. 
(4) OJ No C 128, 21. 5. 1979 and OJ No C 188, 29. 7. 1985. 
(5) OJ No C 182, 21. 7. 1980. 
(6) OJ No C 206, 6. 8. 1984. 
(7) OJ No C 175, 4. 7. 1988. The Committee also undertook in 1979 a specific study 
on the 'juridical protection of consumers'. 
1.3. The Committee considers that the completion 
of the Internal Market by the end of 1992 and the 
opening up of other markets will make new demands 
on consumer information. 
As the Internal Market when completed will have been 
the result of Community policy, such policy should also 
ensure that the interests of consumers are protected. 
1.4. The Committee is also aware of the fact that 
environmental aspects will play an increasingly impor­
tant role in the area of consumption and consumer 
policy. Consumer policy needs therefore to take account 
of such matters as environment-friendly and energy-
saving production methods and environmental protec­
tion. This means that, alongside the price-quality 
relationship of goods and services, the impact of the 
production of consumer goods on the environment and 
the impact of production methods on health and on 
living conditions in general will be increasingly impor­
tant factors in consumer policy. There will therefore be 
closer links between environmental policy and con­
sumer policy. 
1.5. In addition, the Committee would like consider­
ation to be given to the possibility of introducing 
measures to guarantee adequate protection—in particu­
lar through information—of the right and interests of 
citizens as users of public services. 
2. The consumer and the Internal Market 
2.1. The sheer size of the integrated Internal Market 
which will exist as from the end of 1992 and the 
range of goods and services available will necessitate an 
appropriate approach to consumer information. The 
markets in the various Member States have after all 
developed to some extent independently of each other, 
and to achieve the Internal Market some existing 
national consumer protection provisions will have to 
be adapted. 
27. 11. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 298/49 
2.2. In its recent Opinion on basic social rights in 
the European Community (1), the Committee pointed 
out that in setting up an Internal Market it is not 
enough to liberalize trade but that guarantees of basic 
social rights are also needed. The same Opinion also 
pointed out that the Internal Market needs a consumer 
dimension. The Committee is therefore emphatic in 
calling for the adoption of EC rules to ensure the 
safety and protection of the consumer, product quality, 
protection against fraud, and the provision of consumer 
information, education and advice. It also thinks that 
the possibilities available to consumers for obtaining 
information and advice in the countries of the Com­
munity should be aligned more. In general, the position 
of the consumer in relation to the manufacturer and 
the distributive trades must be improved, and not weak­
ened. 
2.3. The consumer will expect the economic advan­
tages of the Internal Market to mean not only a greatly 
increased range of goods and services, but also, in 
principle, lower prices. 
2.3.1. However, this trend favourable to the interests 
of all parties must go hand-in-hand with the develop­
ment of (and compliance with) standards established 
by the competent Community bodies. Lower quality 
and safety standards must be avoided. 
The safety of products and services must also be a 
constant concern of manufacturers, distributors and 
providers of services. 
2.3.2. This means that, in addition to the necessary 
EC legislation, measures will have to be taken—where 
the safety or health of consumers is at stake—in order 
to ensure effective checks on products offered for sale. 
Furthermore, if consumers are to fulfil their role as 
purchasers in the large Internal Market too, infor­
mation, advice and education will have to be adapted. 
2.3.3. Furthermore, in the extensive field of public 
services, the right of the consumer to have full access 
to adequate information on the availability and quality 
of such services should be established. 
The Committee reserves the right to examine this 
specific question in more detail at a later date. 2.4. As services have hitherto been mainly restricted 
to national markets, it is in this area that the greatest 
changes will occur. Problems expected to arise in this 
sector should, where necessary, be solved by means of 
EC legislation—including that on product information 
systems—or else by means of consumer information. 
This applies in particular to property and personal 
insurance, financial services, air transport and the mail 
order business. 
2.5. The Committee is pleased to note that the Com­
mission has produced a draft Directive on product 
safety and urges that the Directive enter into force in 
the Member States by 1993 at the latest. 
At the same time, a specific safety Directive is needed 
for the services sector in view of that sector's special 
characteristics. 
2.6. As regards other consumer protection legis­
lation, the Committee would refer to the Directives 
already adopted. It is important that an efficient system 
of checks be devised to ensure compliance with health 
protection and labelling rules. The planned Community 
certification and quality control system is a move in 
this direction. It should be organized in such a way that 
the consumer can make direct use of it. 
The Committee urges that labelling be simplified and 
improved, e.g. by the use of easily comprehensible 
symbols. 
3. Consumer information, advice and education 
3.1. If consumers are to operate effectively as an 
economic factor in the Internal Market they need 
additional information and access to advice. (This prin­
ciple has already been recognized in relation to small 
and medium-sized enterprises.) To this end consumer 
information and advice must be developed and 
improved. Better general education is often needed for 
the better use of information. Therefore, in addition to 
information and advice, consumer education measures 
are required. 
3.2. Consumer information 
Consumer information can be provided by consumer 
organizations, professional organizations, government 
agencies and firms. In some Member States consumer 
organizations already provide information on a large 
scale. Being relatively independent, they are the most 
suitable source of information for the consumer. 
(') CES 270/89 (OJ No C 126, 23. 5. 1989). Firms also provide a great deal of information. Firms' 
technical data on products is particularly useful. 
No C 298/50 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 11. 89 
Consumer information must be distinguished from 
advertising. Advertising can undoubtedly convey some 
useful information, but it will always be one-sided. 
Information contained in advertising needs therefore to 
be supplemented by information from neutral bodies in 
the private or public sector and, if necessary, corrected. 
Information provided via advertising must complement 
labelling, and must not be at variance with it. 
The Committee urges that the consumer's right to 
information be taken into account in all Community 
Directives where the consumer's interests are at stake. 
3.3. Consumer advice 
Some Community countries already have highly 
developed networks of advice centres, some of a general 
nature and some of a specific nature, whilst in others 
consumer advice is scanty. As a complement to con­
sumer information, these advice centres at national, 
regional and local level have an important task to 
perform. Special programmes are therefore needed to 
reduce these disparities and gear the numerous con­
sumer advice facilities in all the Member States to the 
new situation created by the Internal Market. 
3.4. Consumer education 
If consumers are to learn how to use information prop­
erly, consumer education must begin in primary and 
secondary schools in order to develop a discriminating 
approach to goods and services. This principle was laid 
down in the Resolution of 9 June 1986 (l). With the 
Internal Market on the horizon, an appropriate and 
effective method must also be found to reach adults. 
The need for more appropriate patterns of consumption 
(referred to in point 1.4) in particular entails more 
consumer education facilities for adults too. 
3.5. Approach 
There should be a Commission study of existing con­
sumer information arrangements in the various Mem­
ber States and their national characteristics to assess 
the extent to which they can contribute to an optimum 
solution at Community level. 3.6. Use should be made of consumer information 
which is already available nationally and regionally 
through institutes carrying out comparative tests on 
goods and through other consumer organizations. It is 
necessary to determine whether, and in what ways, 
consumer tests can be carried out and utilized in 
countries where they do not as yet exist. Where tests 
are already carried out, they should be expanded to 
cover new products and services. 
3.7. Transfrontier information systems 
The completion of the Internal Market should prompt 
the consumer organizations and their associated bodies 
to bring together and amalgamate the data they have 
so that these data can be made available at Community 
level. 
If such data are to be useful in terms of consumer 
information the information must be edited and sup­
plemented. The consumer organizations in the Member 
States have an important part to play here. 
3.8. Labelling 
Informative labelling systems of the kind already exist­
ing in some Member States can be developed in cooper­
ation with manufacturers and suppliers. These product 
information systems were prompted by the EC Directive 
on the energy consumption of household electrical 
appliances (2) and the EC Directive on airborne noise 
emitted by household appliances (3). 
These Directives should be developed into a general 
labelling Directive by expanding the existing labelling 
Directives. The Directive should provide for a dialogue 
between manufacturers, distributors and consumer 
organizations and should allow the partners in the 
dialogue scope for arriving at agreements. 
Labelling and product information should primarily be 
mandatory since a voluntary arrangement might be 
difficult to enforce for many reasons, for example the 
difficulty of checking its application and of applying 
sanctions. 
3.9. Product tests and price surveys 
In addition to the provision of information via the 
informative labelling systems, the consumer organiz­
ations must also be given the opportunity for greater 
involvement in the testing of products and the making 
of retail price surveys. This can form the basis for more 
specific consumer information and advice. To this end 
(!) OJ No C 184, 23. 7. 1986, p. 21 et seq. (2) OJ No L 145, 13. 6. 1979, p. 1. 
(3) OJ No L 344, 6. 12. 1986, p. 24. 
27. 11. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 298/51 
cooperation is needed between consumer organizations. 
Such more specific consumer information will cover 
both quality and sales conditions, since the relationship 
between price and quality is still the most important 
criterion in choosing between different products. 
3.10. The Committee urges the Commission to cre­
ate as soon as possible the basic parameters for informa­
tive labelling and cooperation between all the bodies 
concerned with the provision of consumer information. 
Existing systems such as the 'Rapid exchange of infor­
mation on dangers arising from the use of consumer 
products' (*) and the European Home and Leisure Acci­
dents Surveillance System (EHLASS) should also be 
involved. In setting up the certification and quality 
labelling system, care needs to be taken to ensure that 
it does not overlap with existing systems. 
4. Maximizing impact 
It is very important that as many consumers as possible 
should be able to derive real benefit from informative 
labelling and the results of cooperation between con­
sumer organizations on product tests and price surveys. 
The Commission is asked to support this objective. 
Action to this end could be backed up with information 
material and, in some cases, information campaigns. 
The Commission should study ways of making infor­
mation from the Member States available throughout 
the Community and of overcoming the numerous lan­
guage barriers. 
The Committee once again stresses that more consumer 
advice facilities are needed to complement consumer 
information. This applies particularly to socially disad­
vantaged consumer groups. Cooperation between 
advice centres at EC level should be encouraged. It is 
necessary to examine the question whether existing 
advice networks can be used at European level. 
5. Financing 
The adaptation of consumer information to the Internal 
Market will make new demands and this applies also 
to the financing of information. Given that the Internal 
Market cannot do without the cooperation of European 
citizens, the Committee feels that this financing prob­
lem has to be solved. Initially, a financial contribution 
will be needed from the Community and national 
authorities. Part of the cost of product information can 
be borne by producers via the labelling system. The Committee urges the Commission to consider whether 
a special levy within the framework of taxation legis­
lation on advertising expenditure would be a suitable 
method for financing the expansion of consumer infor­
mation, advice and education. 
Only through additional (Community, national, 
regional and local) subsidies will the consumer organiz­
ations be in a position to expand information, advice 
and education to match the demands of the Internal 
Market. This applies in general to the creation of the 
necessary infrastructure. Special attention should be 
given to those Member States where consumer organiz­
ations are still in a weak position. 
6. Concrete steps 
6.1. The consumer's right to information should be 
taken into account in all Community Directives where 
the consumer's interests are at stake. 
6.2. The foodstuffs labelling Directive needs to be 
supplemented by a general EC labelling Directive laying 
down the ground rules for informative labelling and 
for a dialogue between suppliers and consumers. 
6.3. Product information systems of the kind being 
developed in some Community countries must be 
encouraged at EC level. The basic rules for such a 
system must be clearly formulated at EC level. The 
concrete details of product information can be decided 
in a dialogue between the producers and consumers 
concerned and embodied in an agreement accepted by 
both sides. 
6.4. The Commission should encourage and enable 
the consumer organizations to develop an appropriate 
information collection system making full use of exist­
ing material and thus making possible the development 
of a sufficiently decentralized network of information 
centres at Community level. 
6.5. The Commission should support the setting-up 
of advice centres in countries where they do not yet 
exist or are insufficiently developed. Care should be 
taken to ensure adequate geographical cover, inter alia 
at local level, and to make as full use as possible of 
existing facilities (if any) at consumer, government and 
professional level. 
(*) OJNoL70, 13.3. 1984. 6.6. The Commission and the Council should 
encourage consumer education in the Member States. 
No C 298/52 Official Journal of the European Communities 27. 11. 89 
6.7. The Commission should encourage the setting-
up of institutes for the testing of goods and services in 
Member States where such bodies do not yet exist, and take the necessary steps to enable the results to be made 
available to all consumers. 
Done at Brussels, 28 September 1989. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
APPENDIX 
to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee 
The following amendment, which was supported by at least a quarter of the votes cast, was defeated during 
the debate. 
Paragraph 3.8 Labelling 
Delete the last paragraph. 
Reason 
This paragraph did not appear in the text submitted at the Section meeting and it contradicts paragraph 3.2, 
as amended by a Section vote. 
Voting 
For: 32, against: 47, abstentions: 14.