COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Date: 2011-11-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, European Consumer Centres Network, consumer policy, product safety, single market

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 9.11.2011 
SEC(2011) 1321 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING PAPER 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

Accompanying the document 

Proposal for a Regulation of The European Parliament and of the Council 

on a consumer programme 2014-2020 

{COM(2011) 707 final} 
{SEC(2011) 1320 final} 

 
 
 
 
  
 
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. 

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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 

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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 

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-  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 
Market.
with 

demand 

Single 

side 

the 

the 

of 

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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 
level.
authoritative 

information/education 

source 

EU 

of 

at 

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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. 

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The actions will support the following four specific objectives: 

Safety:  to  consolidate  and  enhance  product  safety  through  effective  market 

i) 
surveillance throughout the Union; 

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

Rights  and  redress:  to  consolidate  consumer  rights  in  particular  through  regulatory 

iii) 
action and improving access to redress including alternative dispute resolution; 

Enforcement: to support enforcement of consumer rights by strengthening cooperation 

iv) 
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. 

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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 policy1. 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. 

1 

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

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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 

%  of  RAPEX  notifications  entailing  at  least  one 
reaction (by other Member States) 

Ratio number of reactions / number of notifications 
(serious risks)*  

Source 

RAPEX 

Current situation 

Target 

43%  (843  notifications)  in 
2010 

Increase  of  10%  in  7 
years 

RAPEX 

107.5% in 2010 

Increase  of  15%  in  7 
years 

*  a  notification  usually 

triggers  several 

reactions 

from  authorities 

from  other  Member  States

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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  

in  cross-border 

Trust 
-  %  of 
consumers  who  are  equally  confident  or  more 
confident  in  making  an  internet  purchase  from 
sellers from another EU country 

transactions 

ECCRS (European 
Consumer 
Complaints 
Registration 
system) 

Consumer 
Eurobarometer 

na 

60%  of  complaint  bodies 
in 7 years 

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 
report 

ECC 

9% in 2010 

50% in 7 years 

Number of cases dealt with by the ODR platform 

Database 
platform 

ODR 

17.500 (complaints received 
by  ECCs 
to  e-
commerce  transactions)  in 
2010 

related 

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: 

CPC 
Database (CPCS) 

Network 

annualised 
2007-2010: 

averages 

of 

-  number  of  requests 
between CPC authorities 

to  exchange 

information 

-  number  of  requests  for  enforcement  measures 
between CPC authorities 

- number of alerts within the CPC network 

- 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 

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