About: consumer protection

Airbnb bows to EU demands on room fees

Airbnb has bowed to EU pressure and will avoid potentially multi-million euro fines after making changes to the way it advertises the fees for its popular room-booking service.

No colour-coded Nutri-Score for Nestlé in Germany

Nestlé's plans to introduce a Nutri-Score for its products across Europe have been blocked in Germany, which lacks a legal framework for colour-coded food labels. EURACTIV Germany reports.

RAPEX, the safety guarantee for European products

The rapid alert system removed more than 2,000 dangerous products from the European market in 2018. However, much remains to be done about security, notably with regards to China. EURACTIV France reports.

‘Channel of dirt’: Jourová describes her Facebook experience

Facebook came in for heavy criticism on Thursday (20 September), as EU justice chief Věra Jourová shone a light on her own Facebook experience as well as the issue of the tech giant's non-compliance with EU consumer rules.

Nothing wrong with genome editing in agriculture

While some may see the recent decision of the Court of Justice of the EU that states that organisms obtained by mutagenesis are GMOs and are therefore subject to obligations laid down by the GMO directive as a win for consumers, the reality is just the opposite, writes Neal Gutterson.

Commission says Airbnb breaches EU consumer rules, must fall into line

The European Union told Airbnb yesterday (16 July) to bring its terms and conditions into line with the bloc's consumer rules or face action by national consumer agencies, after a review of the short-term rental platform found some violations.

Tech industry and consumer watchdogs at odds over robot liability

Tech industry groups and consumer watchdogs are at odds over whether the European Commission should overhaul the bloc’s legislation on product liability to cover robots and artificial intelligence.

EU clears path for collective law suits

Consumers will be able to sue companies in collective action lawsuits spanning multiple EU countries, under a new European Commission proposal.

EU plans to pull ‘free’ digital services under consumer protection rules

EXCLUSIVE / Digital services that collect users’ data, like Facebook and Gmail, will be pulled under EU consumer protection rules as part of a European Commission overhaul due next month. Possible sanctions will be raised to up to 4% of a company's turnover.

Fidget spinners named on EU danger list

Despite becoming a common sight on playgrounds around the world and even in the workplace, fidget spinners have been included on an EU list of dangerous products, as toys ended up posing the most risk in 2017.

Consumer watchdogs want fines against Twitter and Facebook for breaking EU rules

Consumer watchdogs have called for the European Commission to introduce a minimum fine against companies that break EU rules, after Facebook and Twitter failed to reform their user terms.

EU kebab-ban? All smoke and no roast

An objection aimed at banning phosphate from kebab meat, to be voted in the European Parliament on Tuesday (12 December), has started a Europe-wide controversy, fuelled by a German conservative MEP and fake news. EURACTIV France reports.

EU-US Privacy Shield pact to pass first annual review

A year-old pact underpinning billions of dollars of transatlantic data transfers will get the green light from the European Union today (18 October) after the first review to ensure Washington protects Europeans’ data stored on US servers.

No, the EU does not want to ban your chips

Recently, headlines in Germany and Austria might have made you shiver with fear: “The. EU. Wants. To. Ban. Crispy. Chips”. No less! The same EU which dictates the shape of our bananas and cucumbers is now meddling with our chips. Or is it, asks Monique Goyens.

‘No second class consumers’: Juncker slams double food quality in the EU

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker criticised double standards of food quality in his address to Parliament on Wednesday morning (13 September), saying that there should be no “second class consumers” in the single market.

Italy to extend country of origin labelling to tomato products

The Italian ministry of agriculture declared its intention on Monday (4 September) to include the origin of primary ingredients on the labels of tomato-based products, drawing criticism from the European food and drink industry for "undermining the EU single market for food".

Consumer group warns against e-commerce overhaul

A draft bill to give ecommerce shoppers the same rights across the EU is likely to face a drastic makeover from the European Parliament and national governments—and consumer advocates are worried.

Google, Facebook and Twitter face fines as EU grows ‘impatient’ with lax consumer rules

Google, Facebook and Twitter could face fines if they do not change their user conditions to meet the European Commission's demands.

Weighing the tradeoffs of joy versus long term health

Consumers make hundreds of choices every day, some of  which imply weighing the tradeoffs of joy versus long term health. These are highly subjective decisions, and in a free society adult consumers should have the right to make these choices and not have them dictated to them by public health tsars, writes Fred Roeder.

EU fines Facebook €110 million over WhatsApp deal

European Union antitrust regulators fined Facebook €110 million on Thursday (18 May) for giving misleading information during a vetting of its deal to acquire messaging service WhatsApp in 2014.

Growing fake smartphone market raises eyebrows in Brussels

The rise of counterfeit smartphone devices in the EU in 2015 is dealing a severe blow to industry sales and consumer safety, a new report has warned.

Ministers agree on ‘sustainably’ ending roaming charges

The Council agreed on a solution to end roaming fees in 2017, while lessening the impact on mobile operators. But consumer organisations warned against operators hiking domestic prices as compensation.

German leaders told to put brakes on CETA as well

Dismantling democracy, millions spent in lawsuits and jobs in peril. A study into the effects of the planned CETA and TTIP agreements on the German region of North Rhine-Westphalia has revealed a grim picture. Bleaker still is the conclusion that the results can be applied to all of Germany. EURACTIV Germany reports.

What does an innovation agenda mean for consumers?

Innovation and consumer protection are not opposites. Indeed there is huge potential to use innovation to deliver safer products that benefit consumers, writes Monique Goyens.