Meeting in Prague on Friday 23 September, ministers from EU Member States responsible for consumer protection focused on the effective enforcement of consumer rights, as guaranteed by EU law, and on the need to protect the purchasing power of consumers, which is severely threatened.
The motivation for their informal meeting was to find solutions to the multiple challenges facing consumers with a particular focus on vulnerable consumers across the EU, from the soaring energy prices and record inflation they face to the risks associated with the growth of e-commerce (see EUROPE 13025/5).
The Czech Minister of Industry and Trade, Jozef Síkela, who chaired the discussions, recalled that after the Covid-19 crisis, which disrupted the market and affected all of society, “the Russian aggression in Ukraine has many serious economic and social consequences for households”.
“Meeting the challenges and overcoming the crisis will require all of our best efforts. That was the purpose of the debate. We looked for possible solutions in the area of consumer policy and law”, he said after the meeting.
Enforcement of consumer rights and e-commerce. Summing up the discussion, which focused on market surveillance and how to better deal with unfair commercial practices in online marketplaces, “especially from China”, the Czech minister stressed the importance of increased cooperation between national market surveillance authorities, which must be provided with sufficient resources.
“Just as businesses have the right to sell products and offer services to all consumers in the single market, consumers should be able to effectively assert and defend their rights against those businesses, wherever they are located”, he said to summarise the situation.
European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders mentioned the legislative proposals currently on the table on consumer credit agreements in the digital age and on consumers’ right to repair products, which he said could help prevent over-indebtedness and save money. He also stressed the need to help all EU consumers, including “Ukrainian refugees who do not know their rights”.
War in Ukraine and support for consumers. Ministers discussed ways to help households that are feeling the full brunt of the crisis. “The war in Ukraine and the related energy war are creating a lot of uncertainty for consumers and businesses. They are not able to protect themselves”, said the Czech minister, stressing “the duty of governments to support them”.
Of the matters discussed by the ministers, “this issue and how it is dealt with in the different Member States is the most important”, said the Danish representative, Brian Wessel.
Referring to the emergency package of measures proposed by the European Commission on 14 September to alleviate the impact of soaring prices on households and businesses, in particular the target of a 5% reduction in peak energy consumption (see EUROPE 13025/2, 13021/1), Didier Reynders announced the European Commission’s intention to “launch an information campaign for consumers so that they know what this means, and so they have “the right information about the best possible price on the market”, but also so that they know “how they can switch from one behaviour to another”.
This information could be disseminated digitally, but other avenues would have to be explored, the Commissioner said, conceding that “many vulnerable consumers do not have access to digital tools”.
The proposal to tax energy companies’ windfall profits “should bring in €140 billion for Member States”, the Commissioner said, adding that it would be up to them to approve the proposal, “perhaps next week” (at the extraordinary Energy Council meeting on 30 September, editor’s note), and then redistribute it to the most vulnerable.
Package Travel Directive. Over lunch, the ministers exchanged views on Directive (EU) 2015/2302 on package travel and related travel services, with a view to its possible revision.
According to Mr Síkela, the Czech Presidency of the EU Council does “not yet” have any suggestions for improvement. He acknowledged that the implementation of the Directive had been poor during the Covid-19 pandemic “due to a lack of coordination”. Several Member States, “including the Czech Republic”, have failed to comply with the rules on the timely reimbursement of consumers for cancelled flights. He said he was “very pleased” that the subject had been raised to discuss not only solutions but also a cross-border approach to the issue, saying it was important to “see how to deal with the international dimension of this problem”.
Didier Reynders, for his part, insisted on the need to “revise the directive in times of crisis”, after consumers were left defenceless, asked to accept vouchers instead of a refund, and welcomed the fact that “the ministers are in favour” of such a revision. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)