Brussels, 29/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - On 8 October, the European Commission will give its verdict on a draft directive on contract law for consumers in the EU. The Competitiveness Council on 25 September had a taster for this project with the presentation to ministers by Consumer Protection Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva.
Luc Chatel, the acting president of the Council, welcomed this initiative which he said aimed to obtain greater simplification and transparency, as well as more harmonisation and effectiveness in consumer law. At the end of the Council, Chatel told the press, “Europe is criticised for being too distant and not concrete enough. This is an example where Europe can be an answer to the problems of daily life”.
Meglena Kuneva was delighted with the support from the French presidency and favourable welcome from the Council. She said that this was all about modernising, harmonising and making existing rules coherent (which were sometimes twenty years old), in an effort to, “create a genuine internal retail trade market” by setting up new consumer laws and eradicating regulatory barriers obstructing SMEs, which were obliged to comply with the legislation of 27 member states.
The Commission declared that, “We want to give a chance to open up business opportunities all over Europe and guarantee consumers, wherever they live, that they will in the future, benefit from the same level of protection. (A.N./trans/rh)