The new consumer : 50th anniversary special edition : celebrating a half-century of consumer protection in Europe.
Date: 2023-04-04
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers
Subjects: advertising malpractice, consumer policy, consumer protection, electronic commerce, quality standard, single market

THE NEW  
CONSUMER

th

ANNIVERSARY 
SPECIAL EDITION

DECEMBER 2022

IN THIS ISSUE
 ▶ Product safety at the heart 
of consumer protection
 ▶ Consumer protection  
in the digital era
 ▶ The New Consumer  
Agenda
 ▶ Influencer Marketing

SPECIAL REPORT
on protecting children  
in the digital market

COMMISSIONER  
DIDIER REYNDERS
on the next 50 years of  
Consumer Protection

CELEBRATING A HALF-CENTURY OF 
CONSUMER PROTECTION IN EUROPE

HAVE DELAYS AND LOST  
LUGGAGE TURNED A DREAM TRIP 
INTO A NIGHTMARE?  
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

EU RULES PROTECT AIR TRAVELLERS WHEN THINGS GO WRONG. 

DELAYED
  Possible compensation of up to 

€600 per passenger, plus free meals 
and refreshments while waiting for 
departure.

CANCELLED
  Choose a new flight or get your money 
back – and possibly get compensation 
and accommodation too.

BOARDING DENIED
  Get a refund or a new flight - as 

well as compensation and possibly 
accommodation.

LOST LUGGAGE
  Compensation of up to €1 300.

DON’T DELAY. GET THE HELP AND COMPENSATION 
YOU DESERVE TODAY.

GO TO THE EUROPA WEBSITE FOR MORE ON PASSENGER RIGHTS

From the Desk of

03

EUROPE’S 
CONSUMER 
PROTECTION STORY

For the past 50 years, EU consumer rights 
have been protecting and empowering 
Europeans everywhere.

Starting from the premise that people should 
be protected when using goods or services, 
over the past five decades the EU has put 
in place a robust set of policies and rules to 
ensure strong rights for consumers.

This history and expertise are also why 
the EU is well-positioned to continue 
to successfully protect consumers in 
the future, even against products and 
services that haven’t even been thought 
of yet. 

This proactive approach to consumer 
protection – an approach that is 
unwavering yet agile enough to evolve 
to the needs of a rapidly changing 
society – is Europe’s Consumer 
Protection Story. 

In the following pages, we celebrate this 
story, not as a history lesson or a policy 
briefing, but by highlighting achievements 
past, present, and even future. 

Sincerely,

Ana Gallego Torres
Directorate-General for Justice and 
Consumers

Each of these policies and rules are 
built from a foundation of five core 
consumer rights:

1.  The right to health 

protection and safety
2.  The right to protection  
of economic interests
3. The right to damages
4.  The right to information 

and education

5.  The right to representation 

Taken together, these rights mean 
consumers are protected when they 
spend their money, empowered to make 
informed purchasing decisions, and able 
to take proper action if things go wrong. 
They also mean that every citizen can 
take comfort in knowing they have the 
same right to be treated fairly when 
buying goods and services anywhere 
in the EU – whether that be in the 
supermarket or via an online store. 

Of course, the times, policies, and 
policymakers have all changed 
significantly over the course of the 
past half-century. Globalisation and 
digitisation weren’t even on the radar 
back in the 1970s! 

However, thanks to its wealth of 
experience and unwavering dedication 
to consumer protection, EU consumer 
rights have been able to evolve to 
answer the many challenges of today’s 
digital society. 

04 Table of Contents 

THE NEW 
CONSUMER  
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Special 50th Anniversary Edition

FEATURES

PRODUCT SAFETY – THE 
HEART AND SOUL OF 
CONSUMER PROTECTION
While Europeans benefit from some 
of the world’s strongest consumer 
protection rules, particularly as they 
relate to product safety, there is still 
work to be done.
11

THE BUSINESS CASE FOR 
CONSUMER PROTECTION
Whether selling online, offline or a 
little of both, Ecommerce Europe says 
that consumer protection just makes 
good business sense. 
20

PUTTING CONSUMERS 
AT THE HEART OF THE 
GREEN DEAL
Can consumers play a role in 
helping Europe achieve its ambitious 
Green Deal goals? According to MEP 
Biljana Borzan and the European 
Environmental Bureau’s Jean-
Pierre Schweitzer, the answer is a 
resounding ‘yes’.
36

Table of Contents

05

SOUND OFF

DEPARTMENTS

THE NEW CONSUMER 
AGENDA
How the New Consumer Agenda 
protects and empowers consumers 
in the current pandemic, economic, 
and environmental circumstances – 
as well as for the years to come.
14

SPECIAL REPORT

CREATING SAFE,  
AGE-APPROPRIATE 
DIGITAL EXPERIENCES 
FOR CHILDREN
Over the past decade, digital 
technologies and the way children 
use them has changed dramatically. 
Roberto Viola, Director-General 
at DG CONNECT, shares what this 
means for consumer protection.
24

CONSUMER PROTECTION 
IN THE DIGITAL ERA
EuroCommerce discuss what 
consumer protection means for 
European businesses, both online  
and off.
28

THE SUSTAINABLE 
CONSUMPTION PLEDGE
Why the Colruyt Group answered 
the call and took the Sustainable 
Consumption Pledge.
41

INBOX
Our readers share their thoughts 
06

ASK AN EXPERT
You ask, the ECC-Net answers
15

LEADING THE WAY
Former European Commissioner 
for Consumer Protection Meglena 
Kuneva 
26

CPC IN ACTION
Behind the scenes with the 
Consumer Protection Cooperation 
Network
30

THE CPC LIBRARY
Influencer marketing
42

EDITORIALS

FROM THE DESK OF 
Ana Gallego Torres, Directorate-
General for Justice and Consumers 
03

LAST WORDS WITH 
European Commission  
Vice-President Věra Jourová
46

LAST WORDS WITH
European Commissioner for Justice 
Didier Reynders
48

OUR SUPPORTERS

AIR TRAVELLERS’ RIGHTS 
02

SAFETY GATE
10

KEEPING YOU SAFE FROM 
UNFAIR COMMERCIAL 
PRACTICES 
19

ROAM LIKE AT HOME 
29

SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION 
PLEDGE 
35

EU PRODUCT SAFETY AWARDS 
50

06 Inbox 

A group of 12 of us were all set for an 
exciting trip to Rome. But just four days 
before we were scheduled to leave, 
the airline cancelled our return flight. 
We had to scramble not only to book 
another flight back to Cyprus, but also 
to book additional hotel nights. Sure, 
Rome is great, but these additional 
days meant more expenses, all of which 
quickly added up! What a relief to learn 
that, thanks to EU passenger rights, we 
were entitled to compensation from the 
airline – for the delay we experienced 
returning home, our accommodation, 
even our food! And they had to fly us 
back without additional costs. 

Constantinos, Cyprus 

I’m writing to say how impressed I am 
with the European Consumer Centres 
Network, particularly the centre in 
Spain. A few weeks back I ordered 
some products from a popular online 
marketplace. It was a rather sizeable 
order – totalling €2 051.23. But, as we 
do, I changed my mind about two of 
the items with the knowledge that EU 
consumer protection law gives me the 
right to withdraw my order. Following 
the company’s instructions for returns, 
I sent the two items back, and then 
nothing. The company even ignored my 
emails. So, I contacted the European 
Consumer Centre in Spain, who was 
able to get a full refund for the items  
I had returned. Thanks ECC-Net!

Daniel, Spain

LETTERS 
TO THE 
EDITOR

“So,  
I contacted 
the European 
Consumer 
Centre in 
Spain, who 
was able to 
get a full 
refund for  
the items  
I had 
returned.

Thanks  
ECC-Net!”

Inbox

07

I recently had a horrible experience with 
a rental car in Germany. When I got 
the car, I was handed the keys and the 
contract, but not the usual documents 
regarding the vehicle’s condition. Being 
in a hurry, I didn’t think much of it. 
But boy was I surprised when, back in 
Romania, I received a bill for €1 000 
in damages. They claimed that I was 
in an accident, and when I asked for a 
full report, the evidence they sent was 
nothing more than some blurry pictures 
of what appeared to be a superficial 
scratch. This doesn’t seem fair!

Ivan, Romania

Editor’s note: You’re right, it’s not 
fair. It’s also a violation of EU 
consumer protection law, which 
requires that companies provide 
you with clear information – not 
only about the charges, but also 
about all the rental conditions. 
Furthermore, the company should 
not charge you for damages that 
occurred before the time of your 
rental or an excessive amount 
for any small scratches that you 
may have caused. EU consumer 
protection law also gives you the 
right to redress. For help, you can 
contact the European Consumer 
Centres Network at 

 https://www.eccnet.eu

“When I got 
the car, I was 
handed the 
keys and the 
contract, but 
not the usual 
documents 
regarding 
the vehicle’s 
condition. 
Being in 
a hurry, I 
didn’t think 
much of it. 
But boy was 
I surprised 
when, back 
in Romania, 
I received 
a bill for 
€1 000 in 
damages.”

Anybody who has ever had a flight 
cancelled may be reluctant to seek 
compensation. But take it from me, don’t 
be discouraged by the bureaucracy or 
frustrated by how long it might take. In 
the end, it’s definitely worth it – it’s your 
right after all!

My story starts in Ecuador when, due to 
political turmoil and ongoing protests, 
my flight back to Slovakia was cancelled. 
Stuck in Quito for an additional three 
days, I incurred accommodation- and 
meal-related expenses. 

When I got home, I decided to try to 
file a claim for these expenses directly 
with the air carrier, but only received 
automatic replies. I then decided to take 
it up a notch and contacted the ECC in 
Slovakia. Unfortunately, the airline didn’t 
want to work towards finding an out-of-
court solution, so off to court it was. 

After nearly two years and legal 
proceedings, the court ordered the 
airline to reimburse my costs. You think 
that would have done the trick, but the 
airline still refused to pay! Because the 
judgment was issued in Spain, where 
the airline is headquartered, this time I 
contacted the ECC in Spain, who helped 
me notify the airline about the judgment.

Happy to say that, another year on, I’ve 
just received my reimbursement! So 
don’t be discouraged, and definitely don’t 
give up!

Katarína, Slovakia

08 Inbox 

I live in Latvia but I often do my shopping 
online. I recently ordered some spare parts 
online from a French retailer. Long story 
short, I had to cancel my order, which I 
did not only before the parts arrived, but 
before they were even shipped. I was a 
little miffed when the parts showed up 
at my door, but I figured it was a simple 
mistake so had the courier send them 
back to the store. Although the parts were 
returned, I was still charged. However, 
thanks to EU consumer protection rules, I, 
like all consumers, benefit from the right to 
cancel before delivery. And because of this 
right, I was eventually reimbursed in full!

Edgars, Latvia

Just writing to share a positive 
experience I had with the ECC in 
Denmark. Due to circumstances beyond 
my control, I was a little over an hour 
late for picking up my rental car. In that 
time, not only had the company already 
given my vehicle away, they refused to 
give me a refund. 

I tried to appeal to common sense, but 
got nowhere, so I contacted the ECC 
instead. They argued that, because 
of unclear contract terms and a lack 
of transparency, I was legally owed 
a refund, which the company finally 
agreed to pay. 

We all know that things can go wrong 
when you shop online, mistakes happen. 
But there’s mistakes and then there’s 
the Kafkaesque situation I recently 
found myself in. Sure, I didn’t wake up 
as a giant bug, but I did see my order 
for a new mobile phone transform 
into something entirely different. I 
immediately knew something was 
wrong when the package arrived, it just 
seemed too light. Inside wasn’t a phone 
but, get this, a solution for curing a 
specific fish disease!

Needless to say, I contacted the seller 
and they gave me instructions for 
returning the fish disease potion. I also 
took photos and had the courier take 
note of the mistake. Although I was 
refunded for the product, I had to pay 
for the shipping, which didn’t seem 
right. Luckily, with the support of the 
ECC-Net, I was able to get the issue 
resolved using the photos and the note. 

I wanted to share this story so that 
others know that it pays to keep fighting 
for your rights!

Claudia, Italy 

Tommy, Denmark

I am very concerned about climate 
change and absolutely detest today’s 
throwaway society. That’s why I always 
try to repair a product before I think 
about replacing it. I also pay attention 
to whether the manufacturer sells spare 
parts. When my baby’s pram started 
to malfunction, I ordered replacement 
parts from the manufacturer, sending 
them the specific reference of my 
model and for the required parts. 
Unfortunately, some of the parts didn’t 
conform with my make and model. 
Frustrated, I contacted the ECC-Net in 
France, who helped me get the parts 
I needed. As a result, my 2017 pram 
is still good as new and I feel good 
knowing that I have the possibility of 
repairing it!

Alina, France

I had booked a hotel room online way 
back in early 2020. But COVID-19 
changed that. Instead of a refund, the 
company gave me a voucher to use with 
a future booking, and I was happy with 
that, and very much looking forward 
to being able to travel again. When I 
could, I contacted the booking company 
about redeeming my voucher, but was 
informed that the hotel was now under 
different management and thus my 
voucher was no longer valid. I know 
my rights as a traveller, and I know 
that EU consumer law requires that 
I be reimbursed for this cancellation. 
It wasn’t my fault the management 
changed. With a little pushing and some 
help from the ECC-Net, I received my 
refund, which I will promptly use to 
book a much-needed holiday!

Carmelo, Malta

Inbox

09

My son and I flew from Sofia to Geneva, 
with a connection in Vienna. Somewhere 
between here and there, our checked 
luggage was lost for five days. We 
had to buy clothes and other personal 
effects for our trip, which amounted 
to over €1 900. I immediately filed a 
complaint and was told that I would 
be fully reimbursed for all expenses 
related to the delayed bags. But they 
failed to mention there were some 
thresholds, and indeed, I was only 
reimbursed for 25 % of my expenses. 
The good news is that I have a right to 
compensation, which I exercised thanks 
to the help of the ECC Bulgaria and ECC 
Austria. In the end, I returned some of 
the items we purchased and received a 
refund for the remaining expenses. 

Anelia, Bulgaria

I booked a flight to Egypt on a Maltese 
airline via a Czech booking site from 
my home in Belgium – the wonders of 
the digital age! Several weeks before 
the flight, the airline changed the time 
of the flight. They claimed that they 
notified the booking site about the 
change, but regardless, I was never 
informed. I didn’t find out until I arrived 
at my gate and the flight had already 
departed. Who should compensate me, 
the airline or the booking site?

Anne-Marie, Belgium

Editor’s note: According to a 
judgment by the European Court 
of Justice, the airline is required 
to inform you, the passenger. The 
fact that the airline shared the 
information with the booking site 
is insufficient. After all, the site 
isn’t the passenger! That’s why 
you should always insist that the 
airlines reimburse you.

I booked a rental car via an online 
broker and, when I picked it up from 
the airport, I specifically indicated 
that I did not want any additional 
insurance. For good measure, I even 
wrote “no additional charges” right 
on the contract. Yet my credit card 
was still charged €373.96. Of course I 
complained, but the rental car company 
informed me that a premium protection 
insurance package was automatically 
included with the rental car. I was 
surprised to hear this as I had bought 
a comprehensive insurance package 
via the online broker. Thanks to EU 
consumer rights and the support of the 
ECC Austria and ECC France, the car 
rental company refunded the additional 
insurance costs. 

Sandra, Austria

PROTECTED BY 
SAFETY GATE

YOUR FRONT-LINE DEFENCE AGAINST DANGEROUS NON-FOOD PRODUCTS

Safety Gate is a centralised 
tool that national authorities 
can use to quickly alert the 
European Commission – and 
each other – about any and all 
non-food products that pose 
a serious risk to the safety 
and well-being of European 
consumers. 

 Daily Alerts
 Weekly Reports
 Searchable Database

Information includes:
  Type of products identified  

as dangerous

 A description of the risks
  Measures being taken  
to eliminate the risks

DON’T DELAY
CHECK SAFETY GATE TODAY!

LEARN MORE ON THE SAFETY GATE WEBSITE

Spotlight on product safety

11

PRODUCT SAFETY 
– AT THE HEART 
OF CONSUMER 
PROTECTION

Product safety is at the centre of consumer 
protection. In the EU, all consumers have the 
right not to be harmed by the products they 
buy and use. 

Of course, ensuring this requires that 
national authorities constantly monitor 
the markets – markets that are always 
evolving and changing. For example, 
over the past 50 years, we’ve seen 
the markets react to such changes 
and challenges as the establishment 
of the single market, globalisation, 
climate change, technological 
advancements, pandemics and 
digitalisation. 

Today, Europeans benefit from some of 
the world’s strongest consumer protection 
rules when it comes to product safety, they 
are protected by the same rights across all 
Member States.

But we can always do better, especially 
in rapidly changing scenarios in today’s 
world. According to the latest report 
by the European Commission, Safety 
Gate, the EU’s rapid alert system, receives 
hundreds of notifications about unsafe 
products every year. In 2021 alone, the 
system received 2 142 notifications. 

The product groups with the most 
notifications were motor vehicles 
and toys, and the most common 
risks were due to these products 
causing physical injuries or containing 
chemicals harmful to health.

Organisations such as ANEC, the European 
consumer voice in standardisation, and 
BEUC, the European consumer organisation, 
applaud the European Commission’s work 
on proposing the new General Product 
Safety Regulation, and ensuring a political 
agreement on it with the co-legislators, 
which will replace the General Product Safety 
Directive (GPSD) adopted back in 2001.

“Although one of the central pieces of 
legislation ensuring that all non-food 
products sold to consumers in the 
EU market are safe, the GPSD has 
become outdated and needs to be 
revised to keep ensuring the safety 
net for European consumers,” says 
a communication by the European 
Commission.

The revision focuses on:

▶  further improving the safety of 

consumers and at the same time 
providing a level playing field for 
businesses;

▶  safety of products linked to new 
technologies as well as on the 
challenges posed by the growth of 
online sales;

▶  ensuring a better enforcement of the 
rules and more efficient and even 
market surveillance;

▶  improving the recall of dangerous 

products in the hands of consumers.

“We welcome the Commission’s 
recognition that accidents and 
injuries related to unsafe products 
cost consumers and broader society 
€11.5 billion annually, not forgetting 
the physical and emotional pain 
suffered,” says ANEC Director-
General Stephen Russell.

12 Spotlight on product safety

When it comes to product 
safety, it takes a village 

The essential role of 
cooperation 

Product safety has long benefited from 
cooperation between Member States 
thanks to the cooperation mechanism in 
place since 2001. Safety Gate, the rapid 
alert system for dangerous non-food 
products, enables an efficient circulation 
of information between the Member 
States and the European Commission 
about the measures being taken against 
dangerous products. This ensures 
effective action against dangerous 
products across the single market. 
Consumers and other end users are also 
informed via a dedicated Safety Gate 
webpage.

“Before the establishment of Safety 
Gate, information about an unsafe 
product had to be sent separately 
to all the market surveillance 
authorities in all EU Member States 
where the product in question was on 
the market,” explains Korkolainen. “But 
now, thanks to the unified notification 
form, all affected Member States can be 
notified at the same time.”

For example, if a Greek authority finds 
a dangerous product and acts against 
it, they will add a notification about 
this in Safety Gate. In doing so, this 
information is shared directly with all 
other market surveillance authorities 
in the EU and European Economic Area 
(EEA). These other authorities will then 
check their own national markets and 
take the appropriate measures in their 
own country against the same dangerous 
product. 

To be effective, the updated regulation 
must also be backed by informed 
consumers, law-abiding manufacturers, 
effective market surveillance, strong 
enforcement and unwavering advocates.

“The first line of defence in Product 
Safety is ‘the good guys’, that is 
the law-abiding manufacturers and 
importers who embrace safety by design, 
and precautionary and careful risk 
assessment to ensure that only safe and 
compliant products are made available 
to the market,” says Pipsa Korkolainen, 
Senior Specialist, Consumer Products at 
the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency. 

Ms Korkolainen says that consumers 
also play a critical role. “Safety-aware 
consumers avoid buying non-
compliant products and demand safe 
ones, which also puts pressure on 
suppliers,” she adds. 

But being safety-aware first requires 
that consumers be informed. “Consumers 
should be expected to pay with 
their money, not their health,” notes 
Korkolainen. “If a dangerous product 
has been sold to consumers, they 
have the right to be informed.”

According to Korkolainen, the most 
effective way to reach consumers is via 
direct contact. “Consumers cannot be 
expected to constantly search for 
information on recalls after buying 
a product,” she says. “Ideally, all 
consumers with a dangerous product can 
be contacted directly, for example through 
product registration schemes.”

Information about any measures 
being taken in other countries is also 
shared via the Safety Gate system. All 
this information is made available to 
consumers in all official EU languages via 
the Safety Gate website. 

Korkolainen says that Safety Gate can 
also be used by economic operators 
to support their risk assessments and 
to increase their knowledge of what 
kind of problems or safety issues 
certain products have had. It is also 
an important source of information for 
legislators in determining which kind 
of products or hazards may need more 
detailed regulating. “The role of Safety 
Gate can be expected to expand 
in the future and new features to 
be introduced to benefit both EU 
consumers and businesses,” she adds.

Another example of how cooperation 
benefits product safety can be found in 
the Coordinated Activities on the Safety 
of Products (CASP). CASP projects help 
all EU and EEA market surveillance 
authorities cooperate in reinforcing 
the safety of products placed on the 
EU single market. “By joining forces, 
market surveillance authorities can 
do their jobs more effectively, which 
ultimately benefits the consumer,” 
explains Korkolainen.

Funded by the European Commission, 
CASP organises the testing and research 
that national authorities may lack the 
funding and resources to do on their own. 
“Cooperation and working together 
is what the EU is all about, and so 
it makes sense that it is also at 
the centre of product safety,” says 
Korkolainen.

As the world continues to rapidly 
evolve, with new threats and challenges 
constantly arising, cooperation will 
continue to be an essential ingredient in 
ensuring product safety. “There is a lot 
to be done, as the world is changing 
fast, but through cooperation, new 
tools and a bit of common sense, 
Europe will continue to keep its 
consumers safe in the years to 
come,” concludes Korkolainen.

Spotlight on product safety

13

The business end of product 
safety

A Q&A with Delphine Dauba-Pantanacce, 
Director, Legal Counsel of Global 
Regulatory at eBay.

How is protecting consumers and 
complying with product safety 
legislation good for business? Does it 
give you a competitive advantage? 

eBay takes product safety extremely 
seriously and works constantly to keep 
consumers safe at a global level. We 
believe that this proactive approach to 
product safety helps to build trust with 
our community, which is so important for 
consumers when buying or selling on an 
online marketplace.

Why did eBay take the Product 
Safety Pledge? How do you 
implement the Pledge within your 
processes? 

Product safety remains a key global 
priority for eBay. As a founding signatory 
of the EU Product Safety Pledge, we 
believe this initiative reflects our product 
safety strategy, which aims to help 
protect consumers in cooperation with 
regulatory authorities and consumer 
organisations at a global level.
We enforce our Product Safety Policy 
using AI and image detection to 
proactively identify potentially unsafe 
products. Our Regulatory Portal also 
enables regulators and authorities to 
automatically remove a listing, if they 
find the product to be unsafe, within 
two hours. If one of these authorities 
informs us a product is dangerous, 
we immediately remove existing 
listings, warn buyers, ban it on all our 
marketplaces globally and inform and 
educate sellers. These processes surpass 
what eBay has committed to as a 
signatory of the Product Safety Pledge.

How does the Pledge help you take 
action to keep shoppers safe? Can 
you provide an example? 

The Pledge helps to consolidate our 
existing processes by reporting to the 

European Commission on our actions via 
key performance indicators, along with 
qualitative information about our own 
initiatives to raise consumer awareness 
of product safety issues. The Pledge also 
streamlines the process for authorities 
and stakeholders within the EU to ensure 
faster and more effective enforcement on 
product safety issues.

We proactively enforce our own Product 
Safety Policy by using block filter 
algorithms that are aimed at preventing 
unsafe products being listed on the 
site in the first place. These algorithms 
blocked 7.4 million unsafe listings in 
2021. The eBay Security Team also 
performs sweeps to identify listings that 
were not caught by the algorithms and 
takes enforcement action against sellers 
who breach our policies. This includes 
removing listings, selling restrictions, and 
account suspensions.

What advice would you give to a 
company currently thinking about 
taking the Pledge? 

We firmly believe that all organisations 
across the product safety ecosystem 
should take part in the Pledge, including 
consumer associations. This would 
improve data-sharing and visibility of 
product safety issues while also providing 
better protection for consumers. In fact, 
since September 2022, we have been 
participating in a pilot project that we 
proposed to the European Commission to 
improve and streamline product safety 
reporting between Pledge signatories and 
consumer associations. 

50 years of European 
Consumer Protection: a role 
model for the world

On behalf of BEUC, the European 
Consumer Organisation, which just turned 
60 this year, we would like to thank the 
European institutions for their consistent 
efforts to protect consumer rights and 
promote their interests. 

While the founding Treaty of the EU, 
the Treaty of Rome, only mentioned 
consumers in the context of competition 
policy, as of 1972, the first steps were 
taken by European policymakers to roll 
out a genuine consumer policy. There 
was a strong political will, despite the 
absence of a legal basis in the Treaty, to 
rebalance the asymmetric market powers 
between traders and consumers. This led 
to numerous regulatory initiatives, from 
food safety to doorstep selling, from 
responsible lending to unfair contract 
terms, to name only a few. 

This political will led to the inclusion, 
in the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, of a 
specific consumer protection article, 
and of the principle that consumer 
interests must be taken into account 
in all other European policies. 

We are proud of the European values 
reflected in the consumer protection 
body. While it is often criticised by vested 
interests as killing EU competitivity on 
global markets, this has never been 
supported by any evidence, and our 
consumer advocate colleagues around 
the world tell us how they envy the 
standards set in the EU. 

But consumer champions are not allowed 
to rest on their laurels. Markets develop, 
innovation is often not in the consumer’s 
interest, and consumer policy needs to 
constantly be upgraded to address new 
risks and new practices. Therefore, we 
expect the coming 50 years to bring 
plenty of new challenges for EU 
consumer policy. 

However, one fundamental, original 
challenge still needs to be addressed: 
delivering enforcement on the ground. 
Despite the numerous initiatives taken 
by the EU, the possibilities of consumers 
having their rights respected on the 
ground remain unheeded. Bridging that 
gap would certainly be the top priority for 
the coming decades. 

Monique Goyens
BEUC Director-General

14 Sound Off

THE NEW  
CONSUMER AGENDA  
– THE FUTURE 
OF CONSUMER 
PROTECTION IN 
EUROPE

I believe that the Commission’s action 
plan indicates precisely the path we 
need to take to protect and empower 
consumers and, at the same time, make 
businesses more competitive so that the 
European market can function properly 
and provide the best goods and services 
to consumers.

This path involves the development of 
legislation to establish new rights in 
the context of the green transition – for 
example, the legislative instrument we 
are negotiating to empower consumers 
for the green transition – and the 
protection of consumers in the digital 
environment, as demonstrated by the 
demanding and ambitious negotiations 
under way on general product safety, 
consumer credit, and distance marketing 
of financial services.

In addition to these actions on the 
green and digital transitions, the 
New Consumer Agenda identifies 
very important initiatives aimed at 
improving enforcement by public 
authorities. Indeed, it is not enough to 
have robust legislation, it is also essential 
to have authorities with the expertise and 
powers to monitor and sanction practices 
that undermine consumers’ rights. In 
this context, it is worth highlighting the 
evaluation and future revision of the 
Administrative Cooperation Regulation, 

Over the past five decades, the EU 
has put in place a robust set of 
policies and rules ensuring a very 
high level of protection and strong 
rights for consumers. But how will 
the New Consumer Agenda build 
on these achievements to protect 
and empower consumers in the 
current pandemic, economic and 
environmental circumstances – as 
well as for the years to come? Ana 
Catarina Fonseca, Director-General 
of the Consumer Directorate-General 
at the Ministry of Economy and 
Digital Transition in Portugal, sounds 
off.

The New Consumer Agenda is a very 
important and truly inspiring work plan! 
Its development took into account the 
experience and impact of the pandemic 
that was felt across the European Union 
and around the world. Hence, it was 
possible to identify the weaknesses of 
the current European framework, along 
with the challenges and priority areas 
where further work is needed to ensure 
consumer protection within the European 
Union. 

which we hope will strengthen the role of 
the European Commission and of national 
authorities.

One of the five key priorities of 
the New Consumer Agenda is the 
protection of vulnerable consumers, 
a topic that has taken on added 
significance in light of the effects 
of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 
This conflict has been pushing consumers 
into very precarious situations, the result 
of the slowdown in economic activity 
and the increase in the price of fuel, raw 
materials and, of course, essential goods. 
There’s also inflation and the increase 
in interest rates, both of which have a 
strong impact on household budgets. 

Although the New Consumer Agenda 
contains important measures to protect 
consumers in vulnerable situations, I 
believe that, in light of the international 
conflict, other measures should be 
adopted by the European Union to protect 
consumers, particularly in the field of 
energy.

I would also like to highlight the 
international cooperation initiatives, 
particularly with China and Africa, to 
ensure that safe products are placed 
on the market. The pandemic and 
international conflict have made it 
clear that only by working closely 
together can we hope for a better 
world. 

Portugal, through the Consumer 
Directorate-General/Ministry of the 
Economy, embraced the New Consumer 
Agenda and included it in its work agenda 
as a fundamental tool for protecting and 
empowering consumers.

In conclusion, as members of the 
European Union, we are very fortunate to 
have a legal framework that guarantees 
the highest level of consumer protection. 
But now, more than ever, it is essential 
to consolidate this framework. 

The challenges ahead are many, but 
by working together and focusing on 
common goals, we will be able to ensure 
a safe and competitive European market.

Ana Catarina Fonseca
Director-General for Consumers, Portugal

 
 
 
 
 
Ask an Expert

15

After over two years of hardly 
leaving my house, I was really 
looking forward to a summer beach 
holiday in Greece. I was all packed, 
checked-in and waiting at my gate 
when I was informed that my flight 
was cancelled. I missed my entire 
holiday! Is there anything I can do?

Sincerely, Beached in Berlin

In the event of a cancelled flight, you 
have the right to choose between a 
refund or another similar flight to your 
final destination. You can also claim 
compensation from the airline if you 
were informed of the cancellation 
less than 14 days before departure. 
Depending on the flight route, this 
could range from €250 to €600. If 
you booked the flight directly with the 
airline, you should start by contacting 
the airline. If, however, the trip was 
booked through a third-party platform, 
we recommend contacting both the 
airline and the intermediary. If you do 
not get a response or are rejected, then 
please contact the ECC Germany for 
help.

Madeline Schillinger, Case Handler, 
ECC Germany 

ASK  
AN  
EXPERT

“You have 
questions, 
we have 
answers! The 
European 
Consumer 
Centres 
Network 
(ECC-Net) is 
standing by 
to provide 
help and 
advice to 
consumers 
across 
Europe.”

16 Ask an Expert

“If a product 
is faulty, 
as is the 
case with 
your mobile 
phone, you 
have the 
right to ask 
the seller to 
either repair 
or replace 
the product 
free of 
charge.”

I just got back from the Brilliance 
Bar in Milan with the latest mobile 
phone. It’s supposed to have all 
the apps and an out-of-this-world 
camera. Excitedly, I opened the box 
but, to my horror, the screen was 
cracked! Ahh, I need my phone! 

Infuriated in Italy 

EU consumer protection law gives you 
a right to guarantee, which is valid 
for a period of two years and covers 
any defects at the time of delivery. If 
a product is faulty, as is the case with 
your mobile phone, you have the right 
to ask the seller to either repair or 
replace the product free of charge. To 
exercise your right, start by contacting 
the seller and asking them to either 
repair or replace your phone. If this 
for some reason isn’t possible, you 
have the right to ask for a full refund 
or a reasonable price reduction. If you 
don’t get a satisfactory response and 
the seller is from another EU country, 
be sure to contact your local European 
Consumer Centre for advice and 
assistance in resolving the dispute in an 
amicable way.

Barbara Klotzner, Case Handler, ECC 
Italy

My son is starting school this year 
and really wanted the new Mickey 
Mouse backpack. I ordered it online, 
but it never arrived. He was so 
disappointed! Can you help? 

Bummed out in Brussels 

The seller must deliver within the agreed 
time of delivery or within 30 days if no 
delivery period is agreed. When the seller 
is unable to comply, we advise that 
you contact them and agree on a new 
timeframe, such as a week. If you still do 
not receive the Mickey Mouse backpack 
within this additional period, then you 
are entitled to a full refund.

Martijn Dirckx, Legal Advisor, ECC 
Belgium

Ask an Expert

17

“It may also 
be worth 
having 
someone 
familiar with 
the subject 
look at the 
bill to see 
if they can 
help you 
understand 
the charges.

Your national 
European 
Consumer 
Centre 
Network 
office is a 
good place  
to start.”

My family rented a holiday home 
online in Croatia via a booking 
platform. The pictures and 
description seemed amazing, but 
when we arrived, it was more like 
a haunted house than the nice 
beachside bungalow we thought we 
had rented. What can I do?

Got my mail today and found the bill 
for a car I rented during my recent 
trip to Iceland. I nearly fainted 
when I saw the total price charged! 
There’s a laundry list of additional 
items that I just don’t understand, 
including some in a different 
language. Can you clear things up?

Terrified in Transylvania 

Puzzled in Poland

EU consumer law does not regulate 
the conditions for and consequences 
of a cancellation of individual services 
such as accommodation reservations. 
Therefore, your rights as a consumer 
depend on national contract law, 
including the rules on the type and 
terms of your contract and the service 
provider’s cancellation policy.

As a rule, using a booking platform 
results in a direct contract with the 
property, so the property is responsible 
for the quality of service and, if needed, 
for refunding the amount paid. We 
strongly advise that you complain to the 
property as soon as you observe any 
irregularities. This gives them a chance 
to offer you an amicable solution. We 
also recommend that you take pictures 
and document the irregularities so 
you have proof in case the situation 
escalates. 

If a solution isn’t found, you can contact 
the booking platform, which may 
offer alternatives. If no alternative is 
provided, you can stay and ask for a 
partial refund, or you can try to find 
new accommodation on your own. 
You can then later ask the property to 
refund the amount for the remaining 
nights and/or the price difference 
between the original booking and the 
accommodation you found on your own. 

Elena Moise, Case Handler, ECC 
Romania

There are some ‘typical’ reasons for 
these additional charges in the car 
rental sector. For example, if the bill 
was received some time after your 
rental ended and the charges were not 
listed in the agreement you signed at 
the location, they’re usually related to 
damage sustained by the vehicle during 
your rental or to any traffic/parking 
tickets you received. In any case, you 
should contact the company to have 
them clarify the charges. 

It may also be worth having someone 
familiar with the subject look at the bill 
to see if they can help you understand 
the charges. Your national European 
Consumer Centre Network office is a 
good place to start. Before speaking to 
an advisor, please try to recall if the 
pre- and post-rental inspections were 
done when you picked up and dropped 
off the car. If so, do you have the 
documents and were they signed? Did 
you have insurance? If so, what did the 
policy cover? For example, in Iceland, 
you often must pay for a specific 
insurance package that covers damage 
caused by sand and ash.

Wojciech Szczerba, Case-handling 
Team Coordinator, ECC Poland

18 Ask an Expert

I was super-excited about a new 
vase I ordered online. It’s now on my 
mantle but, after a few days, I don’t 
think it really fits with my décor. Can 
I still send it back and get my money 
refunded?

Flip-flopping in Finland

I have good news for you – if you 
purchased the vase in the EU, you have 
the right to cancel and return your online 
store order within 14 days, for any 
reason! I advise that you inform the seller 
of the cancellation as soon as possible, 
but no later than 14 days from when you 
received the vase. After that, you must 
return the order within 14 days. The seller 
then needs to refund your money within 
14 days of receiving your cancellation 
request. Please note that you may have 
to wait for reimbursement until after the 
seller receives the returned vase or you 
have proven that it has been sent via, for 
example, a return receipt.

In addition to reimbursing you for the 
cost of the item, the seller may also 
be required to reimburse the cost of 
returning the order. However, if the seller 
had informed you in advance that you 
would be responsible for any return costs, 
then you’ll have to pay that cost yourself. 

Lastly, keep in mind that the right to 
cancellation does not apply to all online 
purchases. For example, airline tickets 
and tailor-made goods are excluded.

Oskari Stenius, Senior Specialist / Case 
Handler, ECC Finland 

I was scrolling through social 
media a couple of days ago and 
stumbled upon an advertisement 
for vitamins. I decided to buy a 
package of vitamin D supplements 
for just €10. Today, the company I 
purchased the supplements from 
sent me a €150 invoice for a one-
year subscription of vitamins. 
I never agreed to any kind of 
subscription. Is this really allowed?

Stunned in Stockholm 

First of all, take comfort in knowing that 
you’re not alone – this kind of consumer 
issue is common within Sweden and the 
EU. If you find yourself in a subscription 
without having approved an agreement, 
you probably are a victim of what we 
call a ‘subscription trap’. To start, I 
recommend you examine whether you 
received any information indicating 
that your purchase of the vitamins was 
connected to a subscription. 

Even if this is the case, you’re not 
obligated to pay for something you 
did not agree to. The company must 
prove that there is an agreement and 
provide the conditions you agreed on. If 
you believe you should not pay for the 
subscription, you can dispute the claim. 
This means contacting the company 
and explaining why you will not pay the 
invoice. 

You might be able to get out of the 
subscription by using your statutory right 
of withdrawal, which applies when you 
make a ‘distance purchase’, for example 
online. The right of withdrawal normally 
lasts 14 days and applies across the 
entire EU. Contact the company within 
two weeks of when you received the 
vitamins and notify them that you have 
changed your mind.

Nora Shoki, Legal Advisor, ECC Sweden

Whether shopping online, in a store, or across borders, EU Consumer Protection law keeps you safe from 
unfair commercial practices – including the use of misleading advertising. 
In fact, EU law requires not only that a company be able to substantiate any claim it makes, but also that 
they provide the accurate information you need to make an informed purchasing decision. 

EU law also prohibits the use of misleading and otherwise aggressive marketing practices.

THINK YOU’VE BEEN MISLED? TREATED UNFAIRLY?
YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SEEK REDRESS!

LEARN HOW ON THE EUROPA WEBSITE

20 Spotlight on consumer protection in the digital era

THE BUSINESS CASE 
FOR CONSUMER 
PROTECTION 

Whether selling online, offline or a little 
of both, Ecommerce Europe says that 
consumer protection just makes good 
business sense. 

As the representative of the digital 
commerce sector, Ecommerce Europe 
has had a front row-seat in the rapid 
developments that retail has gone through. 
“In the last decade, and particularly 
since the pandemic, our sector has 
gone from one where businesses 
were either online or offline to being 
a highly digitalised sector in which 
businesses have largely adopted 
an omnichannel approach,” says 
Maike Jansen, Public Affairs Advisor at 
Ecommerce Europe.

Ecommerce Europe is the sole voice of 
the European Digital Commerce sector. It 
represents, via its national associations, 
more than 150 000 companies selling 
goods and services online to consumers 
in Europe. The Association acts at the 
European level to help legislators create a 
better framework for online merchants so 
that retailers of all shapes and sizes can 
grow their sales further.

But it’s not just businesses that have 
gone digital, so too have consumers – a 
transition that Ecommerce Europe says 
has strengthened consumer protection. 

“The digital economy empowers 
consumers by increasing access to the 
Single Market and by giving consumers 
even more choices at often very 
competitive prices,” explains Jansen. 

However, the digital economy has also 
raised new challenges. Privacy concerns, 
subscription traps, misinformation 
campaigns and a lack of transparency being 
just a few of the many challenges facing 
the online consumer. 

According to Jansen, these challenges 
highlight why consumer rights must keep 
evolving to meet the challenges of a digital 
society. “Ecommerce Europe believes 
that the EU possesses a very complete 
and flexible legislative framework 
where existing consumer rules, 
complemented by other legislation, can 
tackle the key challenges of our digital 
age,” she says. 

A streamlined approach to 
regulation 

European citizens benefit from what Jansen 
calls the world’s most comprehensive 
consumer protection framework. “From 
regulations on distance selling to 
rules on unfair commercial practices 
to specific legislation pertaining 
to marketing, advertising, finance 
and product safety, the EU provides 
consumers with multiple layers of 
protection,” she says. 

That being said, Ecommerce Europe believes 
that this framework needs to continue to 
evolve to better meet the new omnichannel 
approach that many of its members are now 
taking. According to Jansen, that starts with 
not categorising a business as either online 
or bricks-and-mortar, but as a seamless, 
even hybrid, entity. 

Omnichannel retail defined

According to Intel, omnichannel retail is  

“a strategy where retailers 
engage customers through 
multiple digital and physical 
touchpoints. As customers 
move across these channels, 
applications and data move with 
them. This creates a consistent, 
on-brand experience from start 
to finish.”

Spotlight on consumer protection in the digital era

21

“Retailers have moved beyond the 
distinction between online and offline 
commerce, and consumer protection 
law must adapt and start seeing the 
retail sector as a single industry,” 
says Jansen. “Making consumer 
regulations channel-neutral would better 
reflect the consumer’s preference for 
omnichannel retail.” 

A single framework would also help 
retail businesses better understand what 
is required to comply with consumer 
protection laws. After all, for any rule 
to succeed, all the actors involved 
need to be aware of their rights and 
responsibilities. “It is crucial to ensure 
that all businesses – large and 
small, online and off – understand 
and implement consumer protection 
rules,” adds Jansen. 

Yet for many online businesses, this is 
easier said than done. That’s because, 
according to Ecommerce Europe, 
businesses in Europe still face significant 
barriers to cross-border trade, the most 
notable being regulatory fragmentation. 
“Differences in implementation do 
not help businesses, especially when 
so many are now selling across 
borders,” remarks Jansen. 

This is why ongoing dialogue between 
policymakers and industry is crucial. 
“Dialogue is the key to understanding 
what, if any, gaps remain and how to 
best resolve any ongoing challenges,” 
explains Jansen. 

Retail raises the bar in 
consumer protection

Jansen stresses how most businesses 
want to be at the forefront of 
consumer protection. “Protecting the 
consumer is at the heart of good 
customer service and, for many 
businesses, customer service is a key 
differentiator,” she explains. “That’s 
why many of our members are leaders in 
consumer protection, often going beyond 
what the law requires in, for example, 
their return policies and guarantees.” 

Ecommerce Europe’s members are 
continually striving to raise the bar in 
consumer protection – taking actions 
that influence the evolution of consumer 
protection regulation. For example, some 
of the commitments in the voluntary 
Product Safety Pledge have been included 
in the upcoming General Product Safety 
Regulation. 

Furthermore, Ecommerce Europe’s 
members take customer privacy 
very seriously. Not only do many of 
them maintain clear and transparent 
communication about their compliance 
with the General Data Protection 
Regulation (GDPR), they also help 
customers understand how their data is 
used to improve the services being offered. 
Ecommerce Europe’s national associations 
further help businesses by providing legal 
advice and compliance and by offering 
such extra services as codes of conduct 
and trustmarks. See section ‘Ecommerce 
Europe Trustmark’ on page 23.    

“That’s why many of our 
members are leaders in 
consumer protection, often 
going beyond what the law 
requires in,  
for example,  
their return  
policies and  
guarantees.”

22 Spotlight on consumer protection in the digital era

Even digitalisation itself has enhanced 
consumer safety. For instance, 
consumers now have a direct line of 
communication with the seller, meaning 
that, in the case of a product recall, 
retailers can communicate important, 
often safety-critical information directly 
to consumers in a very targeted and 
efficient manner. 

Trust starts with consumer 
protection

Speaking of consumer safety, Jansen 
notes digitalisation’s role in conducting 
market surveillance. 

“Businesses, consumer advocacy 
groups, and enforcement authorities 
all use sophisticated tools to 
monitor the market,” she explains. 
“Emerging technologies, such as 
Artificial Intelligence, present a unique 
opportunity to more effectively enforce 
consumer protection rules.”

The challenge, however, is to share 
this information. “Bad actors, those 
businesses that use fraudulent 
means to conduct business, aren’t 
only bad for consumers, they’re also 
bad for business,” remarks Jansen. 
“Open communication is the key to 
staying ahead of these bad actors.”

Jansen says that recent legislative 
trends aim to increase the quality of 
information being shared between 
enforcement authorities and businesses. 

The European Commission is also 
exploring new ways to further increase 
cooperation with consumer groups to 
ensure the timely removal of unsafe 
goods from the market. 

Complementing this is Ecommerce 
Europe’s ongoing work with consumer 
organisations and engagement with 
the ECC-Net to exchange views, discuss 
potential remedies for emerging 
challenges and find new synergies. 
Ecommerce Europe and its members 
are also open to discussing initiatives 
with consumer groups to find new ways 
to ensure that consumers are better 
informed about their rights and how to 
enforce those rights. 

“Whether online or omnichannel, 
our members want to be the most 
trusted businesses on the market 
– and in today’s digital era, that 
starts with consumer protection,” 
concludes Jansen. 

 
Spotlight on consumer protection in the digital era

23

Ecommerce Europe Trustmark

The Ecommerce Europe Trustmark 
protects you when you make a purchase 
through an online shop in another EU 
country.

If you see the Ecommerce Europe 
Trustmark on the website of an online 
shop you are visiting, it means that the 
company has made a commitment to 
work in compliance with the Ecommerce 
Europe Code of Conduct and is 
certified by a national e-commerce 
association.

The Ecommerce Europe Trustmark 
stimulates cross-border e-commerce 
through better protection for consumers 
and merchants by establishing one 
European set of rules and by ensuring 
clear communication of these rules.

>10 000

Online shops with national 
trustmark 

Developed in continuous dialogue 
with consumer organisations

So, you want to start an online 
business…

I’m thinking about starting a new online 
store selling t-shirts. Where can I go to learn 
more about doing business in a fair and 
responsible way?

There are many national- and EU-level 
resources available from Ecommerce 
Europe and its member associations, 
along with such government sites as EU 
Consumer Law Ready, SPEAC and EUIPO. 
Additionally, many online marketplaces, 
logistics, payments and other service 
providers have extensive materials 
available to help sellers understand what 
they need to do to comply with the rules 
and get up and running quickly. National 
e-commerce associations can also play 
an important role in informing their 
(new) members. 

24 Special Report

CREATING SAFE,  
AGE-APPROPRIATE 
DIGITAL EXPERIENCES 
FOR CHILDREN 

Over the past decade, digital technologies 
and the way children use them has changed 
dramatically.

“Not only do most children now use 
their smartphones almost twice as 
often as they did just 10 years ago, 
they start using them at a much 
younger age,” says Roberto Viola, 
Director-General at the Directorate-
General for Communication, Networks, 
Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) 
at the European Commission.

With the increasing use of social media, 
TikTok and the metaverse, this trend 
will only continue. “Young people 
are at the forefront of developing 
metaverses and are the biggest 
users of such virtual environments 
as Fortnite and Roblox,” adds Viola. 

However, as Viola correctly points 
out, in addition to being extremely 
entertaining and creative, these 
platforms are also very attractive 
to marketers, who see them as an 
opportunity to promote their brands and 
sell products and services to a captive 
audience.

And herein lies the problem. 
While digital devices and virtual 
experiences bring many opportunities 
and benefits, they also come with a 
number of risks – including exposure 
to disinformation, cyberbullying, and 
access to harmful and potentially illegal 
content.  

“When children are online, they are 
exposed to an array of commercial 
content, from advertising to 
influencer marketing, gamification, 
and in app purchases,” notes Viola. 

According to Viola, children are 
particularly vulnerable to such 
content and therefore need to be 
protected. “EU consumer protection 
law classifies children as vulnerable 
consumers,” he says. “This means 
commercial practices must consider 
these vulnerabilities when designing 
advertisements or marketing 
techniques that are likely to be seen 
by children.”

Special Report

25

In practice, this prohibits online service 
providers from designing or operating 
their interface in a manner that 
deceives children or unduly influences 
them to take a particular action. For 
example, marketers are prohibited from 
using aggressive techniques that exhort 
children to make a purchase – or to 
ask their parents to make a purchase 
for them. “Children must be able to 
understand the commercial context 
of the online platforms they use 
and the content they engage with,” 
explains Viola. 

Building a better internet 
for kids 

Because the consumer protection needs 
of children differ from those of adults, 
the European Commission has taken 
concrete steps to increase the protection 
of minors online. One outcome of those 
steps is the European Strategy for a 
Better Internet for Kids (BIK+), which 
was officially adopted in May 2022. 
“By creating safe, age-appropriate 
digital experiences and supporting 
the game-changing Digital Services 
Act, BIK+ ensures the online privacy, 
safety and security of children,” 
adds Viola. 

To create these experiences, the 
strategy includes such measures as the 
development of an EU code for age-
appropriate design and the adoption 
of a European standard for online age 
verification based on the forthcoming 
European Digital Identity Wallet. 
BIK+ also supports the swift reporting 
of illegal and harmful content and 
harmonises the 166 111 phone number 
for providing assistance to victims of 
cyberbullying. 

As Viola explains, children will play a 
central role in the strategy’s success. 
They are already involved in creating 
the code of conduct for age-appropriate 
design, and the Commission plans 
to establish a child-led initiative for 
promoting digital citizenship via the 
EU Children’s Participation Platform. 
“BIK+ is all about empowering children 
in the digital environment, and that 
starts with getting them directly 
involved in building fun yet safe digital 
experiences,” he says.

The BIK+ strategy also promotes 
empowerment by ensuring that all 
children – especially the most vulnerable 
– have the skills and knowledge they 
need to make informed choices and to 
safely navigate digital environments. 

Here, the Commission, via the 
Safer Internet Centres network, is 
organising a digital literacy campaign. 
The campaign consists of numerous 
learning activities, all of which are 
available via the Better Internet 
for Kids portal, that can be used by 
teachers and parents. “Not only does 
this initiative raise awareness 
about digital risks, it also helps 
bridge the digital divide by teaching 
basic online skills,” says Viola.

In addition to building the strategy, 
children will play a key role in its 
implementation. “The BIK Youth 
Ambassadors is a fantastic 
initiative that encourages children 
with significant digital experience 
to teach the less experienced about 
online opportunities and risks,” 
explains Viola. 

The BIK Youth Ambassadors inform and 
advise the Commission, industry, and 
other partners through ongoing events 
and other related activities. Furthermore, 
a child-led evaluation of the strategy will 
be held every two years. 

“BIK+ is just one step – albeit a 
very important one – in an ongoing 
effort to better protect children 
in an ever-evolving digital world,” 
concludes Viola. “It also exemplifies 
the European Commission’s 
unwavering commitment to 
enforcing consumer law in respect 
to children.” 

x2

The time spent online by 
European children aged 9-16 has 
doubled since 2010

167  
MINUTES

In 2020, children spent an average 
167 minutes a day online

14 to 16-year-olds spend nearly 
twice as much time online as  
9 to 10-year-olds

The most frequent online activity 
for children is watching videos 
or listening to music (65 %), 
communicating with friends and 
family (61 %), using social media 
(54 %) and gaming (44 %) 

Source: EU Kids Online 2020 report

“BIK+ is all about 
empowering children in the 
digital environment, and 
that starts with getting 
them directly involved in 
building fun yet safe digital 
experiences.”

 
26 Leading the Way

CONSUMER 
PROTECTION  
IN RETROSPECT

Serving as chief negotiator for her 
country’s accession to the European 
Union, in 2006 Meglena Kuneva 
became Bulgaria’s first member of 
the European Commission, serving 
as European Commissioner for 
Consumer Protection from 2007-
2010. In 2009, she was named 
Commissioner of the Year by 
European Voice and Politician of the 
Year by The European Observer. She 
also served as EU Ambassador at 
the Council of Europe from 2018-
2022. 

She recently sat down with The New 
Consumer to discuss her work on and 
thoughts about European consumer 
protection. 

When European Commission President 
Barroso first assigned her the portfolio on 
Consumer Protection, Kuneva remembers 
thinking ‘this isn’t just about the internal 

market, this is about civil rights too’. “If 
you look at the Lisbon Treaty, you 
will see that consumer rights are 
part of the same family as citizen 
rights,” she remarks. 

As a result, Kuneva says that two schools 
of thought developed around consumer 
protection. “One of these schools sees 
consumer protection as an internal 
market issue, while the other sees 
it as a social right, an important 
component of the social safety net,” 
she explains. “Personally, I see it as being 
equal parts of both.”

Perhaps this is why Barroso included her 
in the cluster of Commissioners working 
on the internal market. “I was the very 
first consumer policy Commissioner, 
and I believe Barroso set an 
important precedent by including 
consumer rights with the internal 
market,” she says. 

Kuneva also notes that, considering 
57 % of the internal market belongs 
to consumers, it also made practical 
sense. “Without consumers, there 
is no internal market, so my 
starting point as Commissioner 
was protecting the consumer, 
particularly vulnerable consumers, 
as a means of ensuring a robust and 
vibrant economy,” she says. 

Of course, back in 2007 when she 
first became Commissioner, the digital 
market was in its infancy, and there 
were few to no rules aimed at protecting 
digital consumers. In fact, policymakers 
were reluctant to even call those using 
digital services consumers, preferring the 
term ‘digital users’. 

Leading the Way

27

But Kuneva disagreed. “I immediately 
saw an opportunity for this portfolio 
to grow to include not only products, 
but services too, especially digital 
services,” she recalls. “Expanding the 
consumer protection umbrella to include 
both products and services was really 
quite a new concept at the time.” 

Putting consumers at the 
heart of a global economy

Another challenge of the time was 
globalisation. “When we talked about 
globalisation, our conversations 
tended to focus on supply chains 
and free trade, not consumers,” says 
Kuneva. 

But a global economy depends on 
having global consumers – and those 
global consumers expect to have similar 
protections and rights regardless of 
where they do their shopping. “This is why 
I put a lot of focus on the global safety 
chain, especially in places like China,” 
remarks Kuneva.

Kuneva recalls going to China five times 
in less than a year to work with her 
counterparts there to ensure the products 
being produced in China conformed with 
EU safety expectations. “In the EU, we 
put the responsibility of consumer 
safety on the producer, not the 
individual consumer,” she says. 

Because this isn’t the case in places 
such as China and even the United 
States, facilitating global trade required 
additional legwork on Kuneva’s part 
to implement framework directives 
that protected consumers against, for 
example, unfair commercial practices.

“We have to remember that the EU is a 
big player with a big market, and so we 
need to come to the global table with big 
ideas,” adds Kuneva. 

“For me, that big idea was seeing 
consumers not as individuals, 
but as a collective having a big 
impact on the global economy and 
thus deserving of the strongest 
protections and rights.” 

A positive impact on 
everyday lives

Keeping the consumer  
at the centre

Kuneva’s time as Commissioner 
also coincided with increasing public 
awareness about climate change and 
the need to reduce energy use. But, as 
Kuneva points out, you can’t reduce the 
amount of energy you’re using if you 
don’t actually know how much you’re 
using in the first place. 

“Reading your energy bill was not such 
an easy thing in Europe,” notes Kuneva. 
“Every country is different, and 
trying to figure out how much you’re 
using and what it costs could be next 
to impossible.”

Although no longer Commissioner, 
Kuneva continues to keep her finger on 
the consumer protection pulse. “I’m 
very disturbed by the fake news all 
around us,” she says. “This disintegrates 
consumer trust, which is the bedrock of a 
vibrant economy.” 

What advice would she give to 
policymakers currently working on 
consumer protection challenges like this? 
“While long-term strategies are important, 
even critical, one must never lose sight of 
the consumer – they must be at the centre 
of every decision we make,” she says. 

“While long-term strategies 
are important, even critical, 
one must never lose sight  
of the consumer – they must 
be at the centre of every 
decision we make.”

One of the achievements Kuneva is most 
proud of addressed this issue. Working 
with consumer organisations like BEUC, 
she was able to bring the energy bill 
into the consumer protection tent. From 
there, her team could create a common 
template for energy bills, one that made 
it easier for consumers everywhere to 
understand what they were using and 
paying for. 

“This achievement is very close 
to my heart as it shows that the 
Commission isn’t about bureaucracy 
but about having a direct and 
positive impact on our everyday 
lives,” explains Kuneva. 

One trick she used to do was to ask 
herself how her neighbour would feel 
about a particular policy. “The world is 
not as it used to be, and consumers, 
particularly vulnerable consumers, 
need constant education about 
their rights and how to navigate an 
increasingly complex digital world,” 
she adds. “Remember, every consumer is 
unique, and we must work to protect and 
serve each and every one of them.” 

If the next generation of consumer 
protection policymakers and leaders can 
do this, Kuneva says she is confident 
that the EU will enjoy another 50 years 
of consumer protection success. “There 
really is no other option,”  
she concludes.

 
28 Sound Off

CONSUMER 
PROTECTION  
CREATES A LEVEL 
PLAYING FIELD

What does consumer protection 
mean for European businesses, both 
online and off, and what are the 
challenges ahead? Ilya Bruggeman, 
Director, Digital, Single Market, and 
Consumer Policy at EuroCommerce, 
the principal European organisation 
representing the retail and 
wholesale sector, sounds off. 

Retail is a highly competitive and dynamic 
sector, always adapting to new consumer 
behaviour, megatrends and technology. 
Our sector has changed significantly 
over the last decades, even over the 
past couple of years. You used to go to a 
physical store, buy what you want, and 
then go home. But digitalisation of course 
has changed that. 

What this means is that now you go to 
a store to browse different styles of, for 
example, shoes. You find a pair you like, 
but the store doesn’t have them in the 
colour or size you want. No worries, you 
just open the store’s app on your phone 
and order the style you want, pay for 
it in the app, and have them delivered 
either to your home or to the store for 
pick up. If there’s something wrong 
with the product or it isn’t the right 
size, you can either send it back or 
return it to the store for a refund. 

What this is meant to demonstrate 
is how, today, the most successful 
retailers seamlessly integrate the online 
and offline environment into a single 
consumer experience. At the centre of 
this experience is customer trust – 
which is where consumer protection 
law comes into play. 

In Europe, we are lucky in that we 
have the highest level of consumer 
protection in the world. That being 
said, there’s always room for 
improvement. The question, however, is 
whether that improvement should come 
in the form of new rules and regulations 
or by applying existing rules to new 
challenges. 

Enforcement of consumer law is a 
top priority, it essentially creates a 
level playing field for all businesses. 
EuroCommerce believes that, in most 
instances, current consumer law is 
sufficient. But we don’t really know simply 
because the rules haven’t been applied 
yet to all the new digital challenges. That’s 
why we believe that the first step to better 
consumer protection is to have national 
consumer protection authorities apply the 
robust rules we already have. If there’s a 
gap and the rules don’t work, then we can 
look at how we can improve those rules. 

You must remember that of the  
3.6 million retailers in Europe,  
99 % are SMEs. If we continue to create 
new rules and regulations, it will be nearly 
impossible for many of these companies 
to keep up and stay compliant. And failure 
to comply could result in a hefty fine – 
even up to 4 % of one’s turnover. In our 
view, this risks punishing these SMEs, who 
are actually quite willing to be compliant, 
instead of catching the actual bad guys. 

Ultimately, we want companies to comply 
with the rules. If there isn’t compliance, 
there is no adequate consumer protection 
and no level playing field. Instead of 
creating more rules and adding more layers 
of complexity, we should focus on enforcing 
existing rules and helping companies to 
understand them and be compliant. This 
will increase consumer trust.

In other words, there’s more we can 
do than only coming up with tougher 
penalties and higher fines. 

We also need to give companies room 
to innovate and increase choice for 
consumers. Especially in making the 
transition to a circular economy in 
Europe, consumer protection should help 
businesses that are investing time and 
resources in offering safe and sustainable 
products and services.

We also value the use of alternative 
dispute resolution as a means of 
protecting consumers’ rights. It 
favours mediation over litigation. 
Not only is mitigation less 
expensive, it’s also faster than 
lengthy court cases – which in the 
end benefits the consumer. 

This brings us back to the topic of trust. 
As I previously mentioned, consumer trust 
is the backbone of a healthy economy, 
and consumer protection regulation helps 
ensure this trust. But businesses also need 
to trust that this regulatory framework has 
their best interest in mind. If consumer 
protection law can level the playing field, 
reward those companies that are doing 
the right thing, i.e., the good guys, and 
favour finding solutions over fines, then it 
will succeed in this regard. 

All in all, the EU has provided an incredible 
platform for exchange between EU 
institutions, consumer and business 
representatives, academics, media and 
more. This enables everyone to learn from 
each other and to understand each other’s 
needs and wishes. This leads to better 
outcomes for consumers and businesses. 
So it is definitely worthwhile 
celebrating together “50 Years of 
Consumer Protection in the EU”!

ROAM IF YOU WANT TO
ROAM AROUND THE EU
WITHOUT FEAR, WITHOUT FEES

Long gone are the days 
when taking your mobile 
phone across EU borders 
meant coming home to 
excessive roaming fees. 
Today, EU citizens are free 
to ‘roam like at home’ – 
all thanks to EU Consumer 
Protection Rules.

The rules guarantee that 
you can roam without 
fees!

But why stop there?

In addition to protecting 
the right to call, text and 
surf across EU borders, 
the new and improved 
regulation also comes 
with a Quality of Service 
provision. Consumers now 
have the right to the same 
quality of mobile internet 
abroad as they have at 
home – meaning if you 
have 5G at home, you 
can access 5G abroad (if 
available). 

SO, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? 
GO OUT AND ‘ROAM LIKE AT HOME’!

30 Consumer protection in action

THE CPC NETWORK: 
PROTECTING 
CONSUMERS IN  
A BORDERLESS,  
DIGITAL SINGLE 
MARKET

Without effective 
enforcement 
mechanisms, 
consumer 
protection law is all 
bark and no bite.

National authorities are the teeth 
of European consumer law. When 
a violation happens, they can order 
companies to respect consumer 
protection legislation or, eventually, 
impose sanctions. But sometimes 
where the consumer lives and where 
the transaction occurs fall on different 
sides of a border. For situations like 
this, there’s the Consumer Protection 
Cooperation (CPC) Network. 

“Coordinated action is the key 
to protecting consumers in the 
digital single market,” explains 
Marie-Paule Benassi, Head of Unit – 
Consumer enforcement and redress, 
Directorate-General for Justice & 
Consumers, European Commission. 
“The CPC Network tackles cross-
border consumer protection issues 
by coordinating actions at the EU 
level.”

Established under Consumer 
Protection Cooperation Regulation 
(EC) No 2006/2004, this network of 
competent public enforcers works to 
protect consumers when shopping 
across national borders. “The CPC 
Network gives national authorities 
stronger powers to detect 
irregularities and take speedy 
action against those violating 
European consumer protection 
laws,” says Benassi. 

The sweep

One of those powers is what is 
called a ‘sweep’. These sweeps check 
websites within a particular sector, 
such as air travel and accommodation 
booking, with the aim of identifying 
breaches of EU consumer law. “By 
enforcing the law before more 
consumers are harmed, these sweeps 
represent a proactive approach to 
consumer protection,” says Benassi.

This year, the CPC Network conducted 
a sweep on car rental intermediaries, 
those websites that consumers use 
to compare offers from different 
rental companies. The action 
followed information coming from 
the European Consumer Centres, as 
well as findings from a European 
Commission-procured study, both of 
which pointed to the possibility of 
consumer protection issues within this 
particular business sector. 

78 WEBSITES
THE SWEEP INVOLVED 
10 MEMBER STATES 
PLUS NORWAY AND 
CHECKED 78 WEBSITES.

The sweep involved 10 Member 
States plus Norway and checked  
78 websites. Of these, only  
45 % – less than half – met EU 
standards. The breachers mainly 
involved providing insufficient 
information on such things as 
filing a complaint, terms and 
conditions, and what was included 
with a booking. Many sites also 
automatically pre-selected 
optional paid services, meaning 
the consumer had to uncheck what 
they didn’t want to purchase – a 
clear violation of EU consumer 
protection law.

Consumer protection in action

31

Following the sweep, the relevant 
national authority contacts the 
websites in question and ask them 
to rectify the violation. If necessary, 
they can also initiate enforcement 
actions according to their national 
procedures. “This process allows 
us to simultaneously identify 
and rectify infringements of 
consumer protection legislation 
in a coordinated manner across 
a particular business sector,” 
adds Benassi.

Other sweeps have involved 
such sectors as consumer credit, 
telecommunications, and digital 
services. Sweeps have also looked 
at specific consumer protection 
issues, like misleading sustainability 
claims, delivery, right of withdrawal, 
and price transparency.

The CPC Network – in 
action! 

The CPC Network’s actions have 
already dealt with several EU-
wide issues, resulting in positive 
outcomes for consumers:

  Booking.com made changes 
in the way it presents offers, 
discounts and prices to 
consumers

  Airbnb improved and 

clarified the way it presents 
accommodation offers, 
providing consumers with more 
adequate pricing and complete 
information on all mandatory 
charges and fees

  Facebook, Twitter and Google+ 
updated their terms of services 
and implemented a dedicated 
procedure for consumer 
authorities to flag problematic 
content

  The five leading car rental 
companies all significantly 
improved the transparency of 
their offers and the way they 
handle damages

  Apple iTunes and Google Play 
developed information on the 
existence and pricing of items 
that can be purchased as part  
of games

2022 CPC Network 
sweep of car rental 
intermediaries 
Of the 78 websites reviewed

1/3

had unclear information on 
whether the consumer should 
contact the broker or rental agency 
in case of questions or complaints

28 %

failed to clearly indicate the 
broker company’s name

32 %

did not clearly indicate which 
company was bound by the rental 
terms and conditions

1/2

lacked clear information about 
what was included in the booked 
insurance

21 %

automatically pre-selected 
optional paid services

32 Consumer protection in action

The Dieselgate emissions 
scandal 

Not all the CPC Network’s actions come 
from online sweeps, sometimes they 
come straight from the headlines. A 
case in point: Dieselgate – the 2015 
Volkswagen emissions scandal that 
ultimately saw 8.5 million cars recalled 
for failing to meet established emission 
standards. 

“Dieselgate had a direct impact on 
consumers as they were the ones 
who had to get their vehicles up to 
standard,” recalls Benassi. 

Because the scandal involved 
vehicles across the EU, the CPC 
Network took action. “By working 
directly with the Volkswagen 
Group, we ensured that the 
company provided free-of-
charge repairs to all effected 
consumers,” adds Benassi.

While the European Commission and 
national consumer authorities applaud 
this effort, it was not enough to make 
affected consumers whole. So, in 2020, 
European Commissioner for Justice and 
Consumers Didier Reynders wrote to 
Volkswagen stressing that consumers 
expected not only to be treated fairly, 
but to receive adequate compensation 
for the damages they suffered in a 
similar way across the whole EU. 

Even today, seven years after news of 
the scandal broke, the CPC Network’s 
work goes on. “We continue to ask 
Volkswagen to find solutions that 
will allow consumers seeking 
redress and courts to avoid 
spending years in litigation,” says 
Benassi. Unfortunately, the company 
has thus far only agreed to compensate 
EU consumers residing in Germany at 
the time the vehicle was purchased. 

Consumer protection in action

33

BEUC specifically flagged the app’s 
use of hidden marketing, aggressive 
advertising techniques targeting 
children, and certain contractual 
terms that could be perceived 
as misleading and confusing for 
consumers. 

Following dialogue with the 
Commission and national consumer 
protection authorities, TikTok 
committed to aligning its practices 
with EU consumer protection rules. 
These measures make it easier for 
consumers to spot advertisements on 
the platform. 

The CPC Network is now actively 
monitoring the implementation 
of these commitments. “We are 
particularly interested in assuring 
that there is sufficient clarity 
around children’s understanding 
of TikTok’s commercial aspects, 
including as they relate to 
advertising embedded in 
influencer posts,” adds Benassi. 

The CPC Network is currently involved in a 
coordinated action against WhatsApp. The 
action follows an alert from BEUC and 
involves alleged unfair practices in the 
context of an update to the company’s 
terms of services and privacy policy. 

“Because they are the ones directly 
affected by violations of consumer 
protection rules, consumers and 
consumer advocacy groups are an 
essential source of information for 
the CPC Network,” concludes Benassi. 

“But this can only happen when 
consumers fight for their rights 
and complain, which is why raising 
awareness on rights and redress 
possibilities must go hand-in-hand 
with enforcement.”

The most vocal advocate for 
consumer protection is you 

While sweeps and controls play an 
important role in the CPC Network’s 
enforcement activities, often times 
the most vocal advocate for consumer 
protection is the consumer themself. 
“Many of our most successful actions 
have stemmed from alerts given to 
us either by consumers or consumer 
advocacy groups,” explains Benassi.

For example, in 2022, the CPC Network 
received a request from the European 
Consumer Organisation (BEUC) to look 
into potential consumer rights violation by 
video-sharing platform TikTok. 

34

Consumer protection in action

CPC Network endorses 
5 key principles  
of fair advertising to 
children 

When designing their 
advertisement and marketing 
techniques, companies should 
consider the following principles 
to better protect children:

1 

Specific vulnerabilities of children 
should be considered when 
designing advertisement or 
marketing techniques that are likely 
to be seen by children. 

  (Online) Service providers must not 
design or operate their interface in 
a manner that deceives children or 
unduly influences them to take a 
particular action.

  Certain marketing techniques (e.g., 
personalised marketing) could be 
inappropriate to use due to the 
specific vulnerabilities of children.

3

4

When general marketing content 
is addressed to children or is likely 
to be seen by them, the marketing 
purpose should be indicated in a 
manner that is appropriate and clear 
for children. 

Children are not to be targeted, 
urged, or otherwise prompted 
to purchase in-app or in-game 
content, and games marketed for 
free should not require in-app or 
in-game purchases to play them in 
a satisfactory manner. 

2

Children’s particular vulnerability 
because of their age or credulity is 
not to be exploited.

5

Children should not be profiled for 
advertisement purposes.

To learn more about consumer protection’s role in keeping children safe, please 
see our Special Report on p. 24.   

WE WANT  
COMPANIES  
TO TAKE  
THE PLEDGE

When it comes to 
increasing sustainability 
and decreasing carbon 
emissions, your business 
has a choice. You can 
either do the minimum 
of what is required 
by EU law, or you can 
take the Sustainable 
Consumption Pledge.

The voluntary initiative 
invites companies to take 
various steps to become more 
sustainable:

  Reduce your overall 

environmental footprint
  Produce more sustainable 

products

  Promote the circular 

economy

  Implement social 

sustainability across the 
supply chain

  Raise consumer awareness

READY TO TAKE THE PLEDGE? 

START NOW

36 Spotlight on sustainability

PUTTING 
CONSUMERS AT 
THE HEART OF THE 
GREEN DEAL

Can consumers play a role in helping 
Europe achieve its ambitious Green 
Deal goals? According to Member of the 
European Parliament Biljana Borzan, the 
answer is a resounding ‘yes’.

“Studies have shown that 
consumers are very interested in the 
environmental impact of the products 
and services they buy, and a great 
majority are willing to pay more for 
products that are more beneficial 
for the environment,” says Ms Borzan, 
who is a member of the Parliament’s 
Committee on the Internal Market and 
Consumer Protection. “But sustainable 
options need to be available to everyone, 
and consumers must have clear and easily 
accessible information about the products 
they buy.” 

One of those options should be the right 
to repair a product. “As purchasing 
power is decreasing, consumers are 
becoming increasingly interested 
in the repair option and are often 
disappointed when there isn’t one,” 
adds Ms Borzan.

Repairing a product also has important 
environmental benefits. “More often 
than not, the bulk of a product’s 
environmental impact happens 
during the manufacturing process,” 
explains Jean-Pierre Schweitzer, Deputy 
Policy Manager for Circular Economy 
at the European Environmental Bureau 
(EEB), Europe’s largest federation of 
environmental NGOs.

Spotlight on sustainability

37

“After all, 
buying 
something 
once costs 
a lot less 
than having 
to buy the 
same product 
multiple 
times. 
Perhaps 
that’s why 
77 % of EU 
consumers 
say they 
would rather 
repair a 
product than 
buy a new 
one and 86 % 
want to know 
how long 
their products 
will last.”

Mr Schweitzer helped set up the 
European Right to Repair Campaign, 
a coalition of repair businesses and 
repair cafes, refurbishment companies 
and environmental NGOs dedicated 
to extending product lifespans. “By 
increasing a product’s lifespan, we 
decrease the need to manufacture 
new products and, in doing so, 
reduce the amount of energy and 
raw materials used and emissions 
produced.” 

This energy saved by repairing instead 
of replacing a product could also 
contribute to the EU achieving energy 
independence.

Beyond being good for the environment, 
more reparable and longer lasting 
products are also good for a consumer’s 
wallet. After all, buying something once 
costs a lot less than having to buy the 
same product multiple times. Perhaps 
that’s why 77 % of EU consumers say 
they would rather repair a product than 
buy a new one and 86 % want to know 
how long their products will last. 

According to Ms Borzan, the vast 
majority of consumers have had their 
devices fail earlier than expected, with 
studies showing that most failures 
happen between the second and third 
year of usage, when the obligatory 
legal guarantee expires. “Every failure 
creates additional costs for consumers 
as they have to buy a new product or 
repair the current one, which is often 
impossible due to lack of spare parts 
or repair services, or to other repair 
restrictions,” she says.

“The right to repair is good for the 
environment and it’s what a lot of 
consumers want as well,” adds Mr 
Schweitzer.

38 Spotlight on sustainability

To make this right a reality, the 
Right to Repair Campaign is working 
with policymakers to set minimum 
design requirements to ensure easy 
disassembly and replacement of 
key components – starting with 
smartphones, laptops and other 
electronics. The Campaign is also taking 
steps to make sure everyone has ready 
access to spare parts and repair manuals 
for the entire lifetime of a product. 

But it’s not just consumers and the 
environment who will benefit from 
having a Right to Repair, according 
to Ms Borzan, repairing, reusing and 
refurbishing products can create more 
jobs than throwing them away or even 
recycling them. 

“The Right to Repair isn’t just about 
environmental and consumer benefits, 
it’s also about creating important 
benefits for the labour market,” she says. 

The case of the shrinking 
life expectancy of washing 
machines

Although the Right to Repair campaign is 
focused on electronic devices, the fastest 
growing source of waste, Mr Schweitzer says 
the same concept can be applied to nearly 
any product group. For example, a study by 
Halte à l’obsolescence programmée, a 
French NGO, looked at the rapidly shrinking 
lifespan of washing machines. 

“Within an eight-year period, the 
lifespan of some washing machines 
decreased from roughly 10 years to 
an average of just seven,” says Mr 
Schweitzer. “This trend could be reversed, or 
at least slowed down, if consumers had the 
ability to repair their broken machine.”

“In my country, Croatia, consumers 
often contact me because they are 
disappointed that the products they 
bought 20 years ago still work, but the 
ones they buy today break shortly after 
purchase,” adds Ms Borzan. 

“For an average household, buying 
a new wash machine or a mobile 
phone is a significant expense, and 
we should do our best to protect 
consumers from early obsolescence 
practices and ensure an effective 
right to repair.” 

The shrinking life expectancy of 
washing machines also raises another 
important point: product durability. 
Although some models have shorter 
lifespans, there are still durable 
washing machines available on the 
market. The challenge for consumers 
is to figure out which machine is the 
durable model that will last 20 years, 
and which will have them soon coming 
back to buy a new one. 

Spotlight on sustainability

39

According to Mr Schweitzer, this highlights 
why product information is so important. 
“People can’t make an informed 
decision if they don’t have the right 
information,” he says.

Ms Borzan agrees: “We need to ensure 
this information is made available in 
a clear and understandable way,” she 
says. “By doing this, we will also promote 
competition and motivate producers to 
make more durable products.” 

It’s time to put an end to 
greenwashing 

But consumers don’t need just any 
information, they need information that is 
accurate and honest. 

“Right on the heels of consumer demand 
for sustainable products is a wave 
of sustainability-focused marketing 
campaigns,” says Mr Schweitzer. “There’s 
not a day that goes by that we don’t 
see a company making some claim 
about a product’s environmental 
friendliness.”

Mr Schweitzer applauds such EU 
initiatives as the Ecodesign and Energy-
Efficient Product labels, which have 
gone a long way in helping consumers 
easily understand an appliance’s 
energy efficiency and performance. 
“Information tools similar to the 
energy label could be considered 
for other product groups such as 
furniture or textiles,” he says.

Mr Schweitzer also notes how the new 
proposal for the Ecodesign for Sustainable 
Products Regulation is an excellent 
opportunity to create informative tools for 
other product groups. He suggests that, in 
addition to energy efficiency, these labels 
also provide information on, for example, 
a product’s durability, longevity and 
repairability. “Consumers want to know 
if their products are built to last or 
can be repaired,” he says. “Information 
on product repairability should be made 
available at the point of purchase to both 
the consumer and the repairer.”

The problem is that all-too-many of these 
claims are unfounded, at best – and that’s 
a violation of EU Consumer Protection 
rules, which protect consumers against 
misleading advertisements.

This particular type of deceptive 
marketing practice is called 
‘greenwashing’. These greenwashing ads 
typically make unsubstantiated claims 
that a company’s products, objectives or 
policies are in some way sustainable. 

A classic example is the popular ‘carbon 
neutral’ claim – a claim that many 
consumers assume means that the 
product doesn’t have a carbon footprint. 
However, as Mr Schweitzer explains, it is 
often used by companies who offset their 
emissions by paying a third party for the 
removal of greenhouse gas emissions 
outside their own production operations. 
The problem with this approach is that 
there is no set definition for what an 
offset can be, meaning many schemes 
don’t actually deliver the reductions that 
the company is paying for. 

But Mr Schweitzer says that doesn’t have 
to be the case. “We need to counter 
the ‘sticker shock’ and justify the 
upfront costs by helping consumers 
understand how an efficient, durable, 
long-lasting product will save them 
money in the long run while also 
benefiting the environment,” he says.

A perfect example of how this can be done 
is the existing Ecodesign Directive, which 
is expected to save consumers €285 
per household in energy bills by helping 
them choose more efficient appliances.

But again, Mr Schweitzer says it 
really all comes down to information. 
“Communicating to citizens about 
what could be the best option for 
them is really important, as is making 
sure they have the right information 
when they’re buying products so they 
know, ‘okay, maybe this isn’t the most 
efficient model, maybe this isn’t the 
most repairable model’,” he concludes. 
“This can go a long way to helping 
consumers actually make what is 
economically – and environmentally 
– the right choice.”

40 Spotlight on sustainability

“This is probably the number one 
claim you see on products at the 
moment, even though, by definition, 
every product has some kind of 
climate impact – there is no such 
thing as a carbon neutral product,” 
explains Mr Schweitzer. “I find it very, 
very misleading, that a person can buy 
a product thinking it has no impact on 
the environment or climate when that is 
simply not the case.”

It’s not only Mr Schweitzer who finds 
this misleading. According to an article 
published by Clean Energy Wire, the 
vast majority of people don’t have a 
clear idea of what a ‘climate neutral’ 
claim actually means. The article 
cites a survey conducted by the North 
Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Protection 
Centre where just 3 out of every 100 
respondents knew in detail what was 
behind the ‘climate neutral’ label.

The article goes on to note that even 
environmentally conscious consumers 
tend to be unaware of the label’s full 
meaning. “The misconception that 
the manufacturing companies 
are committed to reducing CO2 
emissions is even more prevalent 
among this group than on average,” 
a representative of the North Rhine-
Westphalia Consumer Protection Centre 
told Clean Energy Wire. “(Because) 
such labels mislead consumers, we 
need reliable labels that meet people’s 
expectations and leave no room for 
greenwashing.”

The Clean Energy Wire article goes on to 
report that 86 % of survey respondents 
said that a product should not be 
labelled as climate neutral if it was not 
produced in a climate-friendly way.

Interestingly, investors and financial 
institutions are likely to soon have 
access to such detailed information 
about a company or product’s actual 
carbon footprint. “Consumers, on 
the other hand, only see the vague 
and ambiguous ‘carbon neutral’ 
claim,” says Mr Schweitzer. “In the 
future, companies should be required to 
provide citizens the same information 
they have to provide investors, as 
doing so would help prevent consumers 
from being misled by a climate neutral 
claim.” 

Other common examples of greenwashing 
include a product being advertised as 
‘made from recycled materials’ 
when in fact the percentage of recycled 
materials used is shockingly low, or 
when an energy company promotes its 

use of renewable fuels when that use 
is miniscule. There’s also the popular 
practice of a company making a bold 
splashy campaign about its future 
performance (e.g., slash carbon emissions 
by 30 % by 2030) but then failing to 
provide any follow-up. “It’s easy to see 
why consumers can be confused by 
this type of misleading language,” 
adds Mr Schweitzer. 

“If consumers 
are to drive 
the green 
transition, 
the most 
sustainable 
option must 
be the most 
attractive 
option.”

Here the European Commission 
has proposed new rules that 
strengthen consumer protection against 
greenwashing practices. The EEB, 
however, advocates that these rules 
be more ambitious by, for instance, 
prohibiting a product from being labelled 
carbon neutral when that neutrality 
includes the use of carbon offsetting. 

Making the most 
sustainable option the most 
attractive option

With the right to repair and accurate 
information, consumers should be firmly 
in the green transition driver’s seat, 
right? Well, not quite. There’s also the 
issue of costs. “If consumers are to 
drive the green transition, the most 
sustainable option must be the most 
attractive option,” says Mr Schweitzer. 

The challenge is that although more 
sustainable options can be cheaper in the 
long run, they are often more expensive 
upfront. And in tough economic times, 
consumers will feel increased pressure to 
let their purchasing decisions be dictated 
by price. 

WHY COLRUYT 
ANSWERED THE 
CALL AND TOOK 
THE SUSTAINABLE 
CONSUMPTION 
PLEDGE

The European Commission’s 
Sustainable Consumption Pledge calls 
on EU non-food businesses (including 
retailers) of various sizes and in 
different sectors to make specific, 
public and verifiable commitments to 
reduce their overall environmental 
footprint, produce more sustainable 
products and redouble their efforts 
to raise consumer awareness of the 
impact of their consumption choices. 

The Pledge is a voluntary commitment that 
businesses can take and that goes beyond 
what is required by EU law. Astrid Van 
Parys, a member of the Sustainability 
Team at Colruyt Group, shares why this 
Belgian retail company has signed the 
Pledge – and why you should too.

Sustainability is at the heart of everything 
we do at Colruyt Group, so much so 
that it’s even at the core of our mission 
statement: ‘Together, we create 
sustainable added value through 
value-driven craftsmanship in retail’. 

To ensure we stay true to our mission, 
we wanted to challenge ourselves by 
publicly committing to ambitious targets. 
The European Commission’s Sustainable 
Consumption Pledge not only provides 
this challenge, it’s also proof that Colruyt 
Group talks the talk and walks the 
sustainability walk. In fact, since taking 
the Pledge, we successfully reduced 
our absolute carbon footprint by 25 % 
between 2017 and 2021. Furthermore, 
we decreased our CO2 intensity by more 
than 40 % between 2008 and 2021 (CO2 

equivalent per million euro). And by 2030, 
we plan on further reducing our carbon 
footprint by 42 % (from a 2021 baseline). 

Being able to back one’s sustainability 
claims with proof comes with multiple 
advantages – something we realised very 
early on in our company’s history. From the 
start, Colruyt Group has been extremely 
economical in our use of resources and 
(raw) materials: we focus on reuse and 
standard dimensions, on recycling 
waste and on using electricity both 
functionally and economically. 

Today, these simple measures continue 
to provide us with a competitive 
advantage in terms of low operational 
costs and low use of energy per m² 
compared to other retailers. They’ve 
also allowed us to lead the way in 
terms of reducing our CO2 footprint. 
Furthermore, our sustainability 
initiatives are helpful when it 
comes to recruiting new employees, 
as we see them being particularly 
interested in working for a 
sustainability-oriented company. 

But even with these successes, there’s 
still more work to do. With major societal 
transformations ahead and massive 
regulation packages coming our way, 
we are convinced that a continuous 
and ambitious focus on sustainability in 

Sound Off

41

“With major 
societal 
transformations 
ahead and 
massive regulation 
packages coming 
our way, we are 
convinced that a 
continuous and 
ambitious focus 
on sustainability 
in everything 
we do is the key 
to competing in 
tomorrow’s world.” 

everything we do is the key to competing 
in tomorrow’s world. 

This is why Colruyt Group continues 
to strive to do more. Currently, we 
are taking concrete actions to address 
the sustainability of our suppliers. For 
instance, we have asked our suppliers 
to participate in the Eco-Score initiative. 
Eco-Score is the food eco-labelling system 
that Colruyt Group is pioneering in practice, 
with consumers. Furthermore, we’ve 
launched an incentive programme 
granting points to ecological 
initiatives when consumers purchase 
A and B scored products, and we’re 
also working with our suppliers to 
identify potential risks and to map 
these across the value chain.

Of course, all of this requires that we 
work closely with our suppliers and 
partners to share data, ambitions and best 
practices – including those best practices 
outlined in the Sustainability Pledge. So, 
if you’re on the fence about taking 
the Pledge, based on our experience 
and successes with the initiative, 
my advice would be to stop delaying 
and sign it! It’s the first step towards 
aligning your internal stakeholders and 
informing your external stakeholders 
about your commitment to sustainability. 
From there, you will be well-positioned 
to create a clear path for collaboration 
and co-creation towards achieving your 
sustainability targets. 

Astrid Van Parys
Head of Sustainability at Colruyt Group

42 The Consumer Protection Library

PROTECTING 
CONSUMERS AGAINST 
THE POTENTIALLY 
MISLEADING 
PRACTICES OF SOCIAL 
MEDIA INFLUENCERS

Once upon a time, Nikkie de Jager was just an 
unknown teen in a rural Dutch town who liked 
to create videos about makeup and post them 
on YouTube. Then one day she struck gold – her 
‘The Power of Make-Up’ video went viral, quickly 
amassing nearly 40 million views.

The Consumer Protection Library

43

SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER:
SOMEONE WHO HAS ESTABLISHED CREDIBILITY IN A 
SPECIFIC INDUSTRY, HAS ACCESS TO A HUGE AUDIENCE 
AND CAN PERSUADE OTHERS TO ACT BASED ON THEIR 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 
(DIGITAL MARKETING INSTITUTE)

Today, her popular 
NikkieTutorials YouTube 
channel has 13.9 million 
subscribers and over  
1.5 billion views – that’s 
a lot of fans considering 
that Nikkie doesn’t have 
any professional or formal 
training in communication 
or marketing, let alone the 
beauty sector.

According to the paper 
“The Regulation of 
Social Media Influencers: 
An Introduction” by 
Catalina Goanta and Sofia 
Ranchordás&1, de Jager’s 
story is very typical of the 
social media influencer 
phenomena.

“A growing number of 
individuals, often without 
any traditional professional 
certification, have a job that 
consists of sharing moments 
in their daily lives or offering 
advice in different areas and, 
while doing so, endorsing 
consumer goods and 
services,” write the authors.

The problem, as Goanta and 
Ranchordás correctly point out, 
is that, in many cases, social 
media influencers don’t properly 
disclose the commercial nature 
of their posts – a failure 
that raises issues relevant to 
Consumer Protection Law.

1  Goanta, Catalina and Ranchordas, Sofia, The Regulation of Social Media Influencers: 

An Introduction (September 20, 2019). ‘The Regulation of Social Media Influencers: An 
Introduction’ in C. Goanta and S. Ranchordas (eds), The Regulation of Social Media Influencers 
(Edward Elgar, 2020, Forthcoming), University of Groningen Faculty of Law Research Paper 
No. 41/2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3457197 or http://dx.doi.
org/10.2139/ssrn.3457197

44 The Consumer Protection Library

“Influencer marketing has an 
impact on consumer purchase 
decision-making. Children 
and consumers with low 
education and/or low income 
are particularly vulnerable to 
influencer marketing. The specific 
features of influencer marketing 
exacerbate these vulnerabilities 
more than other forms of media 
(e.g., fashion/lifestyle magazines). 
In this context, the COVID-19 
pandemic has led to more time 
spent online and thereby possibly 
to an increase of exposure to 
influencer marketing.”

Within this framework, influencer 
marketing can restrict a consumer’s 
access to information and education 
– one of the key rights of EU 
Consumer Protection policy. As such, 
both papers argue that specific steps 
must be taken to better protect 
consumers against such potentially 
misleading marketing practices. 

“In a world where YouTube and 
Instagram have become the new 

television, children and teenagers 
closely follow the advice given by 
social media celebrities and aspire 
to become influencers rather than 
doctors, firemen, or astronauts, 
it is imperative to discuss the 
need to regulate social media 
influencers,” write Goanta and 
Ranchordás.

Existing legislation 
works, but is it enough? 

Although there is no specific law 
regulating influencer marketing, the 
IPOL paper says horizonal legislation 
on consumer protection applies:

In a paper entitled ‘The impact 
of influencers on advertising and 
consumer protection in the Single 
Market’, written by the European 
Parliament’s Policy Department for 
Economic, Scientific and Quality 
of Life Policies (IPOL)2, influencer 
marketing can have a negative 
impact on consumers, especially 
such vulnerable consumers as 
children and teenagers:

2  Michaelsen, F., Collini, L. et. al., 2022, The 
impact of influencers on advertising and 
consumer protection in the Single Market, 
Publication for the committee on Internal 
Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), 
Policy Department for Economic, Scientific 
and Quality of Life Policies, European 
Parliament, Luxembourg.

 
The Consumer Protection Library

45

“The Unfair Commercial Practices 
Directive (UCPD) in particular provides 
the overall framework on practices 
infringing consumer protection 
rules, while the Consumer Rights 
Directive (CRD) and other legislation 
on consumer contracts apply to 
influencers who act as sellers, with 
regard to the obligations of online 
traders to disclose a wide array of 
information to consumers.” 

Other existing legislation applicable to 
the regulation of social media influencers 
include Directive 2000/31/EC and 
Directive 2018/1808, both of which 
require influencers to clearly mention 
when content is an advertisement or paid 
partnership and, for the latter, who that 
partnership is with. 

The IPOL paper also cites the Digital 
Services Act (DSA) proposal as another 
means of addressing the new challenges 
posed by influencer marketing. 

But is relying on existing legislation 
enough? 

While the IPOL paper believes that 
leveraging and expanding existing 
consumer protection legislation is 
“generally considered to be the right path 
to tackle influencer marketing”, there are 
other actions that can be taken. On the 
enforcement side of the equation, this 
includes providing national authorities 
with the digital tools they need to 
effectively monitor influencer activity. 

However, the paper also stresses 
the importance of education. 
“Information and guidance that 
helps influencers comply with 
applicable rules already exist at 
national level, and the EU could 
create a resource centre where 
this information is centrally 
available,” write the IPOL authors. 

IPOL also recommends that the EU lend 
support to national, regional, and local 
initiatives working to educate consumers 
about their rights, stating that doing 
so would help empower consumers to 
readily identify influencer marketing 
practices.

“Regulating influencers requires 
striking the right balance between, 
on the one hand, enabling the Single 
Market for commercial activities but 
also for (online) social interaction 
and the creation of non-commercial 
content and, on the other hand, 
protecting the interests of 
consumers,” concludes the paper.

46 Last Words

LAST WORD
EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION  
VICE-PRESIDENT  
VĚRA JOUROVÁ
ON THE FUTURE OF 
EUROPE

Held April 2021 to May 2022, the 
Conference on the Future of Europe was 
a first-of-its-kind opportunity for citizens 
from across the EU to come together, 
share ideas, and help shape a common 
future. During the Conference, citizens 
were also invited to raise issues important 
to them as consumers – and looked at the 
consumption from a sustainability and 
environmental protection angle. 

To learn more about the event,  
we sat down with Věra Jourová,  
Vice-President of the European 
Commission, who was one of the 
Commission representatives at the 
Conference. 

What did you learn from the 
Conference on the Future of Europe? 

First and foremost, I was impressed by 
the energy and the creativity brought 
by all the citizens who participated in 
the Conference, either as delegates or 
online – this is what made it a success 
and a commitment for us. What I heard 
from the citizens is that they want an 
EU that is more ambitious, decisive, 
and assertive and more focused on 
solving everyday problems and less on 
complex processes.

Where does consumer protection fit 
into this future?

People shop and buy products and 
services everyday – meaning consumer 
protection is one of those everyday 
problems that citizens want us to 
focus on. EU consumer policy plays an 
important role in ensuring that every 
citizen can enjoy a safe and fulfilling 
life every day and everywhere within 
the European Union. In fact, consumer 
protection is one of the most tangible 
benefits of the EU and the Single 
Market and thus plays an essential role 
in creating trust with citizens. 

I’m glad you mentioned trust, 
as that goes hand-in-hand with 
another hot topic: democracy. 
During the Conference on the 
Future of Europe, participants were 
clear – they want democracy and 
democratic values to be actively 
protected and upheld. Considering 
the role it plays in building 
trust in the market and with our 

institutions, can one call consumer 
protection a pillar of democracy? 

Our democracies and democratic 
institutions are facing many 
challenges – disengagement, foreign 
interference, a pandemic, and, most 
recently, the unimaginable war of 
Russian aggression in Europe. These 
challenges affect each of us and 
impact all aspects of our lives. 

But I am confident that, thanks to 
the resilience of our social economic 
model, our democratic way of life 
will continue to prevail. You see, 
this social economic model is what 
provides decent living conditions 
across the EU, it is the glue that 
binds us together. And at the 
heart of this model is a strong 
consumer protection framework that 
guarantees similar rights across all 
Member States. So yes, in this sense, 
consumer protection is an essential 
pillar of a healthy, prosperous, and 
fair democracy, as well as a strong 
economy. 

The challenges you cited are mostly 
geopolitical. But there are other 
challenges, challenges that directly 
impact consumers. For example, 
today’s digital markets can be very 
manipulative, pushing consumers 
to buy more than they need. How 
can we uphold consumer confidence 
in a market that is so full of 
misinformation? 

In my view, we cannot downplay a 
consumer’s freedom to make choices. 
What is important, however, is to keep 
consumers properly informed and not 
subjected to deceit and illegal forms 
of manipulation. For example, digital 
technologies are increasingly integrated 
into all areas of our lives – and it 
enriches us in many ways. However, 
this same technology is also being 
used to attack our democracies and 
our democratic norms. For example, 
today illegal content like hate speech, 
scams, and disinformation are spread 
mostly via the web and targeted online 
advertising. 

The European Commission has taken 
very important steps to protect our 
fundamental rights within the digital 
market. For instance, the Digital 
Services Act requires online platforms 
to design their services in a way that 
prevents the spread of illegal content. It 
also requires that any promoted content 
clearly identify not only who is paying 
for it, but also why the viewer is being 
targeted by it. We’ve also proposed 
that the same regulations be applied to 
political advertising.

While steps like these will greatly 
improve the transparency and fairness 
of our digital markets, because 
technology continues to evolve, so too 
must our consumer protection rules.

“In the not-
so-distant 
future, I hope 
consumers 
can freely 
choose a 
product that 
is both good 
for them and 
good for the 
planet.”

Last Words

47

That is also why we regularly conduct 
a comprehensive fitness check of the 
EU’s consumer laws and ensure that 
every consumer is as well protected 
when shopping online as they are 
when shopping offline. 

Another challenge of paramount 
importance is climate change. 
How can EU Consumer policy help 
achieve the Green Deal and make 
Europe carbon neutral by 2050? 

Without addressing consumption and 
production, I really don’t see a path 
forward to achieving our climate 
goals. At the Conference on the Future 
of Europe, citizens were very clear 
that although they value sustainable 
consumption, they feel that the 
market does not. Consumer protection 
can help change this. 

Policymakers must enact measures 
that enable consumers to make 
informed and sustainable purchasing 
decisions. Here, we proposed 
measures to crack down on 
greenwashing and provide consumers 
with accurate information about a 
product’s sustainability – including 
its durability. I would also like to see 
legislation that would significantly 
boost the repair rate of goods – in 
place of discarding only mildly 
damaged products.

In the not-so-distant future, I hope 
consumers can freely choose a 
product that is both good for them 
and good for the planet. I believe this 
mentality is already here, especially 
among the youngest generations – 
and that makes me very hopeful for 
our future.

 
48 Last Words

LAST WORD
WITH EUROPEAN 
COMMISSIONER  
FOR JUSTICE  
DIDIER REYNDERS

Today we are celebrating a half-century 
of consumer protection in Europe. Why 
has consumer protection been such a 
European success story?

Consumer protection’s roots are in 
addressing the disparities in living 
conditions amongst the Member 
States. In order to build a Single 
Market, we had to ensure a similar 
level of protection across all EU 
countries. So, in 1972, when the six 
founding Member States of what 
was then the European Community 
gathered on the eve of its first 
enlargement, they saw consumer 
protection as a tool for advancing 
European integration. The rest, as they 
say, is history. 

In your opinion, what has been the 
EU’s crowning consumer protection 
achievement?

That’s a difficult question as, 
undoubtedly, the world has changed 
substantially in those 50 years. 
And as the world has changed, so 
too have the needs of consumers. 
However, if I had to choose one 
achievement, it would be the 
landmark legislation known as 
the ‘Unfair Commercial Practices 
Directive’. 

This legislation laid the foundation 
for regulating a range of business 
tactics that are not only unfair, 
but also harmful to the consumer. 
Common examples include the use of 
untruthful or misleading information 
and aggressive marketing techniques 
meant to influence a consumer’s 
choice. It has turned out that this 
legislation has been relevant in many 

different situations, underlining the 
significance of these rules. They 
have truly made a difference.

By clearly defining what marketing 
practices are considered unfair, 
the Unfair Commercial Practices 
Directive substantially expanded the 
EU Consumer Protection law net, and 
every citizen is better off because of it. 

Today, millions of businesses 
across the EU – along with those 
selling outside the Union – comply 
with this Directive. But this is not 
the end of the story. This tool 
continues to evolve. The Commission 
recently proposed to update it to 
add a number of practices related 
to premature obsolescence and 
greenwashing to the Directive’s 
famous blacklist of banned practices. 
We are now evaluating whether this 
Directive, amongst others, is fit to 
protect consumers in an increasingly 
digital world and whether it should be 
updated.

The Unfair Commercial Practices 
Directive puts the bulk of the 
responsibility on the trader, or 
business. But what about the 
consumer, do they play a role in 
consumer protection? 

In medicine they say that prevention 
is the best cure, and the same can 
be said for consumer protection. 
Prevention starts with knowing 
your rights, but it also means using 
your voice. Ask questions when you 
don’t understand a transaction and 
contact the European Consumer 
Centres Network when something 
goes wrong. If a deal seems ‘too 
good to be true’, chances are, it is.

But this reminds me of an important 
point. Remember how I said a lot has 
changed over the past 50 years? Not 
so long ago, a consumer could do 
a pretty good job at evaluating the 
fairness of a proposed transaction 
based on its face value. In today’s 
complex digital market, this isn’t 
always the case. 

With unfounded price reductions, 
unclear terms and conditions, and 
hidden fees, trying to distinguish 
between a good deal and a raw one 
can quickly become a nightmare. 
That’s why the EU has just 
introduced a new rule that requires 
all price reductions be explained 
based on the lowest price of the 
past 30 days. 

 
Last Words

49

But isn’t this leadership 
under threat by today’s many 
challenges? 

Of course, we cannot ignore the 
challenges, and, at the moment, there 
seems to be a lot of them. Inflation, a 
pandemic, recession, the energy crisis, 
climate change and finding peace 
and prosperity both in the EU and 
beyond. These are societal challenges, 
challenges that the EU will address 
from all possible dimensions, and 
challenges that our robust consumer 
protection laws can help resolve. 

This is why I am adamant that 
consumer protection levels are not 
to be lowered in times of crisis. 
In fact, it is times like these that 
consumer protection becomes more 
important than ever. During difficult 
times, consumers are at a greater 
risk of falling victim to unscrupulous 
traders who take advantage of their 
vulnerability. If this is left unchecked, 
consumers will lose confidence in 
the market, which will further impact 
an already perilous economy. After 
all, consumer spending accounts 
for over half the EU’s GDP, meaning 
that any impact on consumer 
confidence would have vast economic 
consequences.

To mitigate this risk, the EU is 
working with two networks of 
enforcement authorities, one on 
product safety and one on consumer 
law, to monitor the market for 
such dubious practices and take 
the necessary action to maintain 
consumer confidence. 

How can the EU leverage its half-
century of experience and success 
in consumer policy to address the 
challenges of the next 50 years? 

Consumer protection is more than an 
economic goal, it’s a core value of the 
EU – one that is inscribed in our Charter 
of Fundamental Rights. This is why we 
have been so successful at protecting 
consumers over the past 50 years and 
why I am confident that we will continue 
to succeed in the 50 years to come.

“I am 
adamant that 
consumer 
protection 
levels are not 
to be lowered 
in times of 
crisis. In fact, 
it is times like 
these that 
consumer 
protection 
becomes 
more 
important 
than ever.”

This seems like an issue of 
consumers not having enough 
information. 

Not a lack of information, I would argue 
that there’s too much information 
and that the challenge for consumers 
is to be able to separate the good 
information from the misinformation. 

I believe technology can help. For 
example, the EU is currently looking at 
how we can use artificial intelligence 
to, on the one hand, help authorities 
detect unfair online practices and, on 
the other, help consumers assess the 
fairness of an offer or the risk of a 
particular transaction.

The EU has also enacted a number 
of new laws aimed at ensuring that 
all digital services are efficient, 
competitive, safe and fair. One such 
law requires that consumers be notified 
whenever an offer is personalised based 
on, for example, one’s search history. 

It’s rules and developments like these 
that have put the EU at the forefront of 
consumer protection, especially in the 
digital age.

EU PRODUCT 
SAFETY AWARD

CELEBRATING BUSINESSES THAT GO THE EXTRA MILE FOR CONSUMERS

Organised every two 
years by the European 
Commission, the EU 
Product Safety Award 
celebrates innovation 
and investment in 
consumer protection. 

The Award is an 
opportunity to  
recognise the many 
businesses across 
the EU that go the 
extra mile to protect 
consumers and who help 
raise the bar for product 
safety in Europe.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

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LEGAL NOTICE

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ISBN 978-92-76-59392-8 

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N
N

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ISBN 978-92-76-59392-8

doi:10.2838/805805