Brussels, 06/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - An indication of the growing success of European Consumer Centres (ECCs) in 2011 is that more than 70,000 consumers received legal assistance and advice from these centres to help defend their rights. This information was provided in the 2011 annual report published on Wednesday 6 June by the European Commission. The report reveals that in 2011, 41% of complaints were settled amicably between consumers and traders thanks to ECC and 13% of cases were sent on to the appropriate bodies for settling disputes (the different bodies included extrajudicial bodies for settling disputes, the national authorities in charge of applying legislation and the courts). In 2011, there was a sharp increase in the use of extrajudicial settlements of consumer disputes (62.5% of complaints were transferred to other organisations, as opposed to 58.5% in 2010 and 50% in 2009).
Since 2005, when this network was set up (which now has 29 centres: one in every EU member state, and in Iceland and Norway), the pattern of complaints has remained very much the same. The transport sector is the area in which most complaints are made (32%, 20% of which involve the airlines) and online sales constitute the area of sales presenting consumers with most problems (56.6% of complaints). To consult the report, go to: http://ec.europa.eu/ecc-net (AN/transl.fl)