Brussels, 12/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - The stated desire to increase the role and importance of consumers' rights and security within the single market, and to strengthen consumer associations, must be reflected in the proposals of the European Commission, the European Parliament stresses in a resolution on the European consumer agenda, which it adopted by a wide majority (586 votes to52, with 9 abstentions) in Strasbourg on 11 June.
Following the recommendations of Vicente Miguel Garces Ramon (S&D, Spain), the Parliament argues that the Commission should maintain a permanent dialogue with the private sector in order to ensure that corporate social responsibility initiatives which promote consumers' security are accepted and applied. It calls for consumers to be able to exercise their rights easily in all matters concerning food, health, energy, financial and digital services, broadband access, data protection, transport and telecommunications. It calls on the Commission to seek to determine whether the legislation should be adapted in order to prevent a situation in which consumers from different member states do not have access to the same quality when they buy products of the same brand and the same packaging within the single market. It lays emphasis on the importance of effective market monitoring. It also calls on the Commission to pay particular attention to consumer protection in the short-term credit sector as, in times of crisis, it is the most vulnerable people who turn to these financial products. (AN/transl.fl)