Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a harmonised methodology for classifying and reporting consumer complaints and enquiries {SEC(2009)949}
Date: 2009-07-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: approximation of laws, consumer information, consumer protection, data processing, harmonisation of standards, single market, trade regulations

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 7.7.2009 
COM(2009) 346 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

on a harmonised methodology for classifying and reporting consumer complaints and 
enquiries 

{SEC(2009)949} 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

on a harmonised methodology for classifying and reporting consumer complaints and 
enquiries 

1. 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

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3 

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5 

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INTRODUCTION 

The Single Market Review1 called for regulation and policy to be underpinned by a 
better  understanding  of  real  outcomes  for  consumers  in  the  internal  market.  The 
Commission  has  since  made  a  significant  effort  to  better  understand  how  markets 
function for consumers through the Consumer Markets Scoreboard2. The Scoreboard 
aims to identify markets which are malfunctioning in terms of economic and social 
outcomes for consumers. Consumer complaints are one of the key indicators, along 
with  consumer  satisfaction,  prices,  switching  and  safety,  for  monitoring  the 
consumer dimension of the internal market. 

The  Commission's  Consumer  Policy  Strategy  2007-20133  lays  emphasis  on 
developing  a  proper  evidence  base  for  consumer  policy  including  consumer 
complaints. The Consumer Policy Network, a grouping of senior national consumer 
policy  officials,  has  also  identified  consumer  complaints  as  an  important  policy 
indicator.  Article  16  of  the  Regulation  on  Consumer  Protection  Cooperation4 
specifically  authorises  the  Commission  to  work  with  the  Member  States  on 
developing a common classification. 

The European Parliament has welcomed the Scoreboard and the use of complaints as 
a  key  indicator  and  called  on  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States  to  work 
towards harmonising their complaint classification systems and establishing an EU-
wide  database  of  consumer  complaints5.  Widespread  consultation  of  citizens 
throughout Europe6 led to calls for a speedier response to citizens' complaints. 

Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the  European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions, "A single market for 21st century 
Europe".{COM(2007) 725 final} 
Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the  European 
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions, "Monitoring consumer outcomes in 
the single market: the Consumer Markets Scoreboard".{SEC(2008) 87} 
Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  the  European 
Economic  and  Social  Committee,  "EU  Consumer  Policy  strategy  2007-2013".  {SEC(2007) 
321}{SEC(2007) 322}{SEC(2007) 323} 
Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on 
cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws 
European  Parliament  Resolution  on  the  consumer  markets  scoreboard,  EP  reference  number:  A6-
0392/2008 / P6_TA-PROV(2008)0540 
The  European  Citizens’  Consultations  2009  were  run  by  a  unique  consortium  of  more  than  40 
independent European partner organisations. 

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(4) 

(5) 

In  2008,  the  Commission  carried  out  a  public  consultation  seeking  stakeholders' 
views  on  developing  a  harmonised  methodology  for  classifying  and  reporting 
consumer complaints across the European Union. A wide range of 114 stakeholders 
responded.  Overall,  the  majority  of  respondents  supported  the  development  of  a 
harmonised methodology under a voluntary system. 

This  Communication  sets  out  the  merits  of  using  consumer  complaints  as  a  key 
indicator  of  internal  market  functioning.  It  shows  the  limitations  of  the  complaints 
data  currently  available  and  the  huge  potential  benefits  of  harmonising  complaints 
data.  To  this  end,  the  Commission  believes  that  all  third-party  organisations 
collecting  consumer  complaints  in  the  EU  should  voluntarily  adopt  a  harmonised 
methodology  to  classify  and  report  the  resulting  data.  This  Communication  is 
accompanied  by  a  Staff  working  document  introducing  a  draft  harmonised 
methodology. In order to maximise the acceptance of a voluntary methodology, the 
harmonised  methodology  is  published  in  draft  form  for  public  consultation.  The 
Commission  will  use  the  feedback  from  the  consultation  to  improve  the  draft 
harmonised methodology. The deadline for comments is 05/10/2009. 

2. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF MONITORING CONSUMER COMPLAINTS 

2.1. 

The value of complaints data 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

7 

Consumer  complaints  are  a  key  indicator  of  how  the  market  is  functioning  from  a 
consumer  perspective.  Consumers  may  complain  for  a  variety  of  reasons,  such  as 
poor  quality  of  goods  and  services,  dangerous  products,  faulty  products,  delivery 
problems,  etc.  Consumers'  dissatisfaction  with  goods  or  services  can  be  addressed 
directly  to  traders  and/or  to  third-party  organisations  dealing  with  consumer 
complaints,  such  as  national  authorities,  consumer  organisations,  regulators, 
alternative dispute resolution bodies, etc. Given the effort required to complain, each 
complaint is a hard fact which indicates a potential problem in the market. 

In  the  year  leading  up  to  February  2008,  16%  of  EU  consumers  made  a  formal 
complaint  to  a  trader  about  a  problem  they  encountered7.  By  extrapolation,  this 
equals around 78 million European citizens making formal complaints in one year. A 
quarter of those consumers took the matter to a third party organisation.  

factors  determining  whether  consumers  seek 

The  number  of  complaints  addressed  to  third  parties  is  just  the  tip  of  the  iceberg. 
third-party 
There  are  many 
involvement, such as the perceived effectiveness of complaining, the level of anxiety 
involved,  access  to  the  legal  system  and  so  on.  Despite  this,  complaints  to  third 
parties are a powerful indicator of how well the market meets consumer expectations 
and  can  lead  to  a  better  understanding  of  market  conditions,  identify  emerging 
trends,  and  inform  strategy  for  enforcement  and  policy  authorities.  Complaints  to 
traders  are  a  normal  part  of  the  market  process  that  does  not  necessarily  indicate 
market malfunctioning and so they are outside the scope of this exercise. 

The  collection  and  monitoring  of  complaints  has  the  power  to  shape  dialogue 
between public authorities and business, as has been shown for example in Denmark, 

Eurobarometer 69.1, "Consumer protection in the Internal Market, 2008" 

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France  and  the  UK,  where  third-party  organisations  collect  and  monitor  consumer 
complaints for a wide range of policy purposes. They use complaints as an important 
piece  of  information in the identification of systemic issues that cause detriment to 
consumers. Complaints are collected by consumer authorities or complaint bodies in 
all Member States. 

consumer 

complaints, 

"le  baromètre  des 

For  example,  the  French  authorities  have  established  a  system  of  collecting  and 
classifying 
réclamations  des 
consommateurs".  Complaints  are  registered  according  to  different  sectors,  medium 
of purchase (e.g. phone, post, internet, at a shop), and type of complaint. Results are 
used  to  identify  the  most  problematic  sectors  and,  if  necessary,  take  appropriate 
action  (e.g.  the  French  authorities  have  asked  the  telecommunications  industry  to 
develop  a  code  of  conduct).  The  latest  results  of  the  "baromètre  des  réclamations" 
were published in March 2009. In 2008, the French authorities received over 139 000 
complaints. 

In  the  air  transport  sector,  consumer  complaints  are  dealt  with  by  the  national 
enforcement  bodies  (NEBs)  according  to  Article  16  of  Regulation  (EC)  261/20048 
and Article 14 of Regulation (EC) 1107/20069. The Commission has agreed with the 
NEBs  and  the  airline  associations  a  common  European  complaint  form  which  is 
available  on  the  Commission  website.  This  form  has  contributed  greatly  to  the 
harmonisation  of  reporting  of  air  passengers'  complaints  with  the  NEB  network 
handling over fifty thousand complaints yearly and a considerably higher number of 
other enquiries. 

The  US  also  sets  a  good  example  on  the  use  of  complaints  data  for  enforcement 
purposes. It has a centralised database of consumer complaints data, operated by the 
Federal  Trade  Commission,  called  Consumer  Sentinel.  Complaints  are  then 
forwarded to different local authorities in the US and other international authorities. 
In  2008,  Consumer  Sentinel  received  over  1.2  million  complaints  relating  to  fraud 
(52%),  identity  theft  (26%)  and  other  matters.  Consumers  reported  paying  around 
€1.2 billion 10 in those fraud losses, with the median amount being around €300. 

In addition to enforcement, national authorities can use complaints data to carry out 
an  evidence-based  dialogue  with  businesses  to  address  issues  of  concern  to 
consumers. The data can be used to improve business practices, promote better self-
regulation or, as a last resort, to design new legislation. 

The  case  for  an  EU  harmonised  methodology  for  classifying  and  reporting 
complaints 

The  value  of  harmonising  complaint  classifications  at  EU  level  would  be 
considerable, whether for EU institutions and stakeholders or for national institutions 
and stakeholders and all complaint-handling bodies themselves. An EU classification 

Regulation  (EC)  No  261/2004  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  11  February  2004 
establishing  common  rules  on  compensation  and  assistance  to  passengers  in  the  event  of  denied 
boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights 
Regulation  (EC)  No  1107/2006  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  5  July  2006 
concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility when travelling by air 
Exchange rate used for conversion $1 = €0.6797, on 01/07/2008 

(10) 

(11) 

(12) 

(13) 

2.2. 

(14) 

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(15) 

(16) 

(17) 

(18) 

would  both  stimulate  statistical  harmonisation  at  national  level  and  enable 
comparison  of  markets  and  consumer  problems  between  Member  States  in  the 
Consumer Markets Scoreboard. 

The aim of the Scoreboard is to use the main indicators in an integrated way. Policy 
should  not  be  based  solely  on  the  number  of  complaints.  A  high  number  of 
complaints in a single country cannot necessarily be interpreted as a sign of a failing 
market  but may be  due  to  the presence of effective complaint-handling bodies or a 
new information campaign on consumer rights. By the same token, a low number of 
complaints  in  a  particular  sector  may  not  mean  a  clean  bill  of  health.  Two  major 
surveys  are  therefore  planned  to  complement  complaints  data  and  address  these 
factors. A survey of consumer empowerment will, inter alia, map the willingness of 
consumers  to  complain  in  general.  The  future  regular  surveys  on  satisfaction  will 
complement complaints data by surveying those who do not complain and will also 
measure  the  ratio  between  those  who  do  complain  and  those  who  do  not,  but  who 
still encounter problems. 

Harmonised  data  therefore  promise  a  double  dividend  at  EU  and  national  level.  At 
national  level  they  will  provide  a  powerful  tool  for  national  authorities  to  compare 
the functioning of the market with their peers and identify common emerging themes 
and  threats,  enabling  them  to  better  respond  to  the  concerns  of  their  citizens.  The 
adoption  of  a  harmonised  methodology  by  as  many  third-party  organisations  as 
possible  at  national  level  will  allow  Member  States  to  construct  a  more  complete 
picture of national consumer markets. At the moment, with a few exceptions, in most 
Member States there are a multitude of bodies collecting complaints, with each body 
classifying  them  differently.  This  precludes  the  establishment  of  benchmarks  and 
monitoring of the national market over time. At EU level, there would be scope both 
for better prioritisation of policies and for delivering a powerful tool for EU citizens 
to  communicate  their  everyday  concerns  to  policymakers  and  stakeholders  at  EU 
level. The time taken by EU institutions to respond to problems faced by European 
consumers in their daily lives should therefore be reduced considerably. 

lack 

the  necessary 

The  adoption  of  a  harmonised  methodology  can  also  be  of  immense  value  to  non-
governmental  organisations  such  as  consumer  associations.  Many  consumer 
to  develop  complaint-handling 
organisations 
methodologies and tools. This affects negatively their ability to influence the policy 
agenda upstream, at an early stage when the framework for policy discussion is set. 
The  adoption  of  a  harmonised  methodology  for  classifying  complaints  and  the 
availability of solid and comparable data will be an important asset not only in their 
discussions with policymakers and business but also for setting their own priorities 
and designing their information campaigns. 

resources 

Regulatory  bodies  such  as  competition  authorities  and  sectoral  regulators  (e.g. 
telecommunications,  energy,  financial  services)  would  also  benefit.  Consumer 
complaints provide a key indicator of market outcomes in regulated sectors. Indeed 
in some sectors such as energy and postal services, Member States or regulators have 
the  explicit  role  of  monitoring  market  opening  and  competition  at  retail  level  by 
taking into account consumer complaints. In recently liberalised markets, there is an 
increasing  trend  of  consumers  addressing  their  complaints  to  the  regulatory 
authorities.  In  some  cases,  businesses  have  set  up  self-regulatory  bodies  to  address 
consumer  complaints,  such  as  Ombudsmen.  Adoption  of  the  same  harmonised 

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methodology  by  European  regulators  and  self-regulatory  bodies  will  allow 
consistency and comparability of data collected by regulators, self-regulatory bodies 
and any other third parties collecting sectoral complaints. 

3. 

CLOSING THE EXISTING DATA GAP 

3.1.  Mapping the current situation, differences across the EU 

(19) 

(20) 

(21) 

The  results  of  the  public  consultation  and  the  Commission's  request  to  national 
authorities  to  supply  data  for  the  2009  Scoreboard  showed  that  while  the  national 
authorities  and  other  third-party  organisations  in  all  Member  States  collect 
complaints,  the  arrangements  for  doing  so  differ  considerably.  These  differences 
affect  the  total  number  of  complaints  and  other  relevant  data.  While  the 
methodologies  do  not  diverge  radically,  given  that  the  goods  and  services  on  offer 
across  the  EU  are  broadly  similar,  the  differences  are  significant  enough  to  make 
direct  comparisons  impossible.  However,  it  is  clear  that  overall  there  is  significant 
public  investment  in  collecting  complaints  in  the  EU,  with  national  authorities 
reporting over two million complaints and enquiries for 2008. 

The  Commission  has  set  up  an  informal  expert  group  of  representatives  from  key 
third-party organisations collecting consumer complaints, to assist it in developing a 
harmonised  methodology.  Members  of  the  expert  group  come  from  national 
consumer  authorities,  consumer  organisations,  sectoral  regulatory  bodies,  self-
regulatory  bodies,  alternative  dispute  resolution  mechanisms  and  European 
Consumer Centres. 

The  Commission  has  also  carried  out  fact-finding  missions  to  five  Member  States 
(France,  Germany,  Poland,  Sweden  and  the  UK)  and  has  presented  its  ideas  on 
harmonising  complaints  data  to  the  Consumer  Policy  Network,  the  Committee  for 
Consumer Protection Cooperation, the European Consumers Consultative Group and 
the European Consumer Centres Network as well as to alternative dispute resolution 
bodies  in  the  field  of  financial  services,  the  energy  and  telecommunications 
regulators and other stakeholders. The expert group also serves as an interlocutor for 
explaining  the  project  and  receiving  input  from  other  complaint  bodies  at  national 
level. 

(22) 

An  external  contractor  has  carried  out  a  detailed  study11  to  map  the  main 
stakeholders collecting consumer complaints around the EU and assist in developing 
a  harmonised  methodology.  The  contractor,  in  close  cooperation  with  the  expert 
group and the Commission, has developed a harmonised classification methodology 
and related data dictionary. 

(23) 

In  arriving  at  the  proposed  harmonised  classification  methodology  and  data 
dictionary, the following principles have been taken into consideration: 

•  The  data  classified  using  the  harmonised  methodology  should  be  comparable  with  other 

data sets, such as consumer satisfaction, from the Consumer Markets Scoreboard. 

11 

The study will be published on http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/strategy/complaints_en.htm 

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•  The harmonised classification methodology should have COICOP as its base of departure. 
This will allow comparability with both price inflation and household budget data collected 
by Eurostat and the national statistical offices. 

•  The  design  must  facilitate  a  seamless  transition  from  the  current  classifications  to  a 

harmonised methodology. 

•  The  implementation  costs  of  the  classification  methodology  should  be  minimised  and 

acceptable to the consumer complaint bodies. 

•  The harmonised methodology should be adaptable in the future as markets evolve. 

Main Findings 

(24) 

(25) 

(26) 

(27) 

(28) 

The  Commission  has  identified  over  700  third-party  organisations  collecting 
consumer complaints. This considerably exceeds expectations and indicates a much 
greater scale and potential value of the project. 

The work of the expert group and the Member State visits has confirmed that there 
are  many  different  ways  of  collecting,  handling,  processing  and  storing  complaints 
data. Many of these differences are related to different reasons for collecting the data 
in  the  first  place:  providing  advice  to  consumers,  collecting  statistics  for  informing 
policy  decisions,  designing  information  campaigns,  mediation  and  intervention, 
informing dialogue with businesses, enforcement and developing new legislation. 

Other  differences  are  found  in  the  way  different  complaint  bodies  are  staffed  and 
financially  resourced.  Some  are  well  resourced  and  staffed  while  others  are  poorly 
resourced and rely on the goodwill of volunteers. This has implications for the level 
of detail when collecting data, as well as the way in which data are stored and used. 
While  some  organisations  use  simple  spreadsheets  and  applications  to  classify 
complaints, others use sophisticated databases. 

There are relatively few complaint bodies collecting data about the type of complaint 
and  the  market  concerned.  While  this  might  be  sufficient  to  offer  advice  or 
information, it is not at all adequate for identifying potential market failures from a 
consumer  perspective.  Those  organisations  that  tend  to  use  complaints  data  for 
strategy or policy purposes collect the data in a disaggregated way. In order to collect 
more meaningful data most complaint bodies would have to voluntarily adopt a more 
detailed methodology than they use at present. 

In discussions with the expert group and with stakeholders, the idea of a harmonised 
methodology  has  been  widely  supported,  despite  the  practical  challenges  posed.  In 
general,  stakeholders  see  the  benefits  of  the  project  to  them  and  others  more 
generally,  even  if  the  adoption  of  a  new  classification  would  create  one-off  costs 
which  they  may  be  reluctant  to  accept.  The  reservations  initially  expressed  are 
gradually  diminishing  as  stakeholders  become  more  convinced  of  both  the  overall 
and  the  individual  benefits  of  participating.  One  of  the  aims  of  the  consultation  on 
the  draft  methodology  is  to  ensure  that  the  views  of  the  widest  possible  group  of 
interested bodies are taken into account, in order to maximise take-up. 

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4. 

THE HARMONISED METHODOLOGY FOR CLASSIFYING CONSUMER COMPLAINTS  

4.1. 

Structure of the harmonised methodology 

(29) 

The  draft  methodology  consists  of  three  sections  made  up  of  recommended  and 
voluntary fields for collecting data: 

Section 1) General information about the complaint,  

Section 2) Sector information about the complaint, and 

Section 3) Information about the type of complaint. 

(30) 

(31) 

(32) 

(33) 

The recommended fields are considered essential for collecting information whereas 
the  voluntary  fields  are  designed  to  provide  a  greater  degree  of  detail  for  those 
organisations that wish it. The recommended fields are based on the policy needs for 
the Scoreboard and the consensus from the earlier public consultation, the results of 
the work of the expert group, the Member State visits and the detailed study. 

Organisations that decide to participate voluntarily will have to report the underlying 
micro-data corresponding to these recommended fields. This is necessary in order to 
be able to cross-reference types of problems to sectors when data from more than one 
organisation is aggregated. The recommended fields contain no personal data. 

The recommended fields are: the country of the consumer and the trader, the name of 
the  complaint  centre,  the  complaint  date,  a  distinction  between  a  complaint  and  an 
enquiry, the selling method, the sector and the type of complaint. The Commission's 
work  has  shown  that  the  majority  of  complaint  bodies  already  collect  information 
about  most  of  these  recommended  fields.  Therefore,  adoption  of  the  harmonised 
methodology will not entail extra work but only a one-off change. 

The  voluntary  fields  are  suggestions  for  collecting  additional  data.  One  of  the 
voluntary fields that could be of special interest to national authorities is the "name 
of  the  trader".  This  could  be  extremely  useful  to  enforcement  agencies.  National 
authorities could choose to exchange complaints figures for particular businesses to 
identify  pan-European  problems.  The  Committee  on  Consumer  Protection 
Cooperation has a separate secure IT tool (CPCS) which can facilitate the exchange 
of this kind of sensitive data between enforcement authorities.  

(34) 

Of course, if complaint bodies wish, they can collect further information which they 
consider  to  be  important,  for  example  on  the  socio-demographic  characteristics  of 
complainants, or information about the outcome of complaints. 

Section I: General information about the complaint 

(35)  Most  of  these  fields  such  as  "Country  of  consumer",  "Complaint  date"  etc.  are 
already collected by complaint bodies. One of the additional recommended fields is 
the "Selling Method" field. The reason for including this as recommended is because 
there  can  be  a  significant  divergence  in  the  nature  of  complaints,  even  within  a 
sector,  depending  on  the  selling  method.  Regulatory  regimes  also  differ  between 
selling methods. 

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(36) 

(37) 

(38) 

Section 2: Sector information 

The second section defines a tree structure, consisting of three levels, namely Sector, 
Market  and  Market  description.  Complaint  bodies  should  classify  complaints  and 
enquiries according to this structure, presented in the Staff working document linked 
to this Communication. In order to find out detailed enough information concerning 
the most problematic markets, data about each complaint should be recorded at the 
"Market" level. This will also allow direct comparability with data coming from the 
Consumer Markets Scoreboard such as consumer satisfaction, switching and prices. 
The combination of both data sets will provide national consumer authorities with a 
complete database on the functioning of consumer markets at both national level and 
European level. An analysis of the data collected by national authorities has shown 
that  complaints  relate  to  the  entire  economy  rather  than  just  a  few  sectors.  It  is 
therefore necessary to use a structure that captures the whole spectrum of the market 
in order to encompass all sectors where there is detriment to consumers.  

Complaint bodies which currently classify consumer complaints according to sector 
level  will  only  have  to  use  a  more  detailed  classification  structure.  This  does  not 
entail  additional  encoding,  just  encoding  using  a  more  disaggregated  methodology. 
Complaint  bodies  which  deal  with  complaints  covering  the  whole  consumer 
economy  would  use  the  complete  structure  whereas  bodies  whose  line  of  work  is 
focused  on  particular  sectors  (e.g.  sectoral  regulators,  sectoral  alternative  dispute 
resolution bodies, sectoral complaints boards) could use only the relevant part of the 
methodology. 

Section 3: Type of complaint 

The third section consists of a recommended first level and voluntary second level. 
The  bulk  of  EU  consumer  legislation  is  of  a  horizontal  rather  than  vertical  nature, 
applying  to  most  sectors  of  the  consumer  economy.  Data  on  the  type  of  complaint 
will  help  identify  any  possible  market  malfunctioning  across  sectors  and  facilitate 
better  regulation  when  the  same  types  of  consumer  problems  are  met  across  the 
board.  Therefore  the  fields  for  the  "type  of  complaint"  are  made  up  of  horizontal 
values  such  as  misleading  advertising,  safety  and  prices.  For  example,  the  use  of 
safety  as  one  of  the  recommended  fields  will  allow  the  identification  of  safety 
problems ranging from food to electronic goods and the provision of services. 

4.2. 

Reporting and availability of data 

(39) 

The complaint bodies that decide voluntarily to adopt the harmonised methodology 
should  report  the  data  directly  to  the  Commission.  All  participant  organisations 
should  report  data,  at  a  micro  level,  corresponding  to  all  recommended  fields. 
Participants are also encouraged to report data corresponding to the voluntary fields. 
The  Commission  does  not  wish  to  receive,  or  make  public,  data  concerning  the 
names or allowing the identification of traders.  

(40) 

The  frequency  of  reporting  and  publishing  of  data  is  one  of  the  questions  for 
consultation. The Commission will make the data it receives readily available to all 
organisations and the public. 

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5. 

PUBLIC CONSULTATION AND THE NEXT STEPS 

(41) 

(42) 

The  Commission  invites  interested  parties  to  send  their  comments  on  the  detailed 
draft  methodology  presented  in  the  Staff  working  document  linked  to  this 
Communication  using  the  consultation  form  available  via  the  Interactive  policy-
making  tool12.  Organisations  which  are  potential  partners  in  using  a  harmonised 
methodology  for  classifying  complaints  are  urged  to  respond  to  the  public 
consultation. The public consultation will close on 05/10/2009. 

Following  the  public  consultation,  the  Commission  will  consolidate  the  comments 
and  adopt  a  Recommendation  on  the  harmonised  methodology  on  how  to  classify 
and  report  consumer  complaints.  The  Recommendation  will  be  accompanied  by  a 
detailed action plan for implementation aimed at encouraging as many third parties 
as possible to adopt the harmonised methodology. In order to facilitate its adoption, 
the Commission will explore ways such as the design of IT software to make it easier 
for complaint bodies to participate. 

(43) 

In order to monitor the implementation of the harmonised methodology and to allow 
for  further  flexibility  and  improvements  to  the  methodology  as  necessary,  the 
informal  consumer  complaints  expert  group  will  become  a  formal  Commission 
advisory body established by a Commission decision. 

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