EU seeks to boost online consumer confidence[fr][de] 

The Green Paper on the Review of the Consumer Acquis  presented by the Commission on 8 February 2007, launches a wide-ranging revision of EU consumer-protection legislation. 

The Green Paper seeks public opinion on the "main body of consumer-protection legislation". The aim is to adapt the Consumer Protection Directives to the changing markets and technological developments and to harmonise inconsistencies in consumer legislation and implementation measures in the EU-27.

Presenting the Green Paper, Commissioner for Consumer Affairs Meglena Kuneva highlighted the need to boost consumer confidence in e-shopping so that the online world becomes a "trusted market space". 

Kuneva said: "At the moment, consumers are not getting a fair deal online, and complex rules are holding back the next generation of bright business ideas. The question is, can we afford to have 27 mini-online markets in Europe, denying consumers choice, opportunity and competitive prices?"

According to the Commission, consumers are not yet "comfortable" enough in the digital and online world to seize its full potential and only 6% of EU consumers currently shop online cross border.

BUSINESSEUROPE "strongly supports implementation of the better regulation principles in consumer legislation", but reminds that "any proposals for harmonised rules in this field should be backed by a proper impact assessment, and pursue simplification and clarification of existing rules". 

"New market developments, fragmentation of rules and lack of consistency between various directives have made a review inevitable," said MEP Malcolm Harbour (EPP-ED). He added: "While guaranteeing consumer rights, we must also ensure that businesses can benefit from a more predictable regulatory environment to allow them to trade more easily across the EU. Any new EU legislation must also be based on minimum harmonisation and the principle of mutual recognition, rather than a heavy-handed approach." 

The European Consumers' Organisation (BEUC) particularly welcomes the indication that principles of the acquis will be applied to the digital environment as "consumers have little or no independent rights of their own in the digital world". BEUC would also like the new regulations to be "sufficiently flexible to adapt to new problems that may arise in the market in the future" and doubts whether these results can be achieved with maximum harmonisation.