Brussels, 02/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 2 February, the European Commission published the 2nd EU Annual Consumer Markets Scoreboard Report for three areas of services which people consider are underperforming - energy, banking and transport (trains, buses and trams). Consumer conditions in the retail electricity market will be the target of an in-depth market analysis by the Commission in 2009.
EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva began with the “good news” in the scoreboard. The traditional goods sectors are performing relatively well: 70%-80% of consumers say they are satisfied with both the goods and retailers from whom they bought the goods. This is true for sectors such as meat and new motor vehicles, computers, mobile phones, clothes and books. The Commission also noted promising trends in certain service sectors, such as telecommunications. 22% of consumers have changed their internet provider over the last two years. The provider switching rates are also high in the mobile and fixed telephony areas. 67% of consumers find it easy to compare offers from internet providers. Ms Kuneva declared that on the subject of prices, the scoreboard is quite encouraging: the prices of mobile phone prices are falling but there are areas of concern (pronounced disparity in broadband access prices).
The data for different countries demonstrate that some countries (Finland, Sweden, Germany and Netherlands) score well on almost all indicators. Good progress was noted in some of the new EU member states too: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia and Estonia.
On the bad news, the commissioner indicated that satisfaction rates were particularly low for urban and extra-urban (trains, buses and trams), energy and banking services.
Energy. The report indicates that less than two thirds of consumers are satisfied with their energy supplier (electricity and gas) and that 3 out of 5 people have complained of price increases. Before tax, electricity in countries like Germany and Belgium is 50% more expensive than in other countries like Poland, affirms Ms Kuneva.
Banking services. Bank charges and interest rates vary considerably in member states, something which cannot be easily explained. The Commission criticised the fact that in the United Kingdom, banks obtain most of their revenue from fees the consumer is unaware of. Adjusted interest rates on consumer credit between 1 and 5 years vary from 0.21% in Sweden and 12.12% in Estonia. On average, 11% of users of retail bank services changed providers in the last two years. Only 9% of users of current accounts changed banks, and those most likely to switch where holders of mortgages or investment products,
Transport. Electricity and gas supply services score particularly badly in terms of reported price increases. About 60% of consumers reported price increases from their energy supplier, while only 3-4% saw price decreases. Consumers using urban and extra-urban transport services (buses, trains, trams) experience the least satisfaction and the highest number of problems: less than half of consumers are satisfied with these services. Main drivers of dissatisfaction in markets are the price levels, the attractiveness of commercial offers, the ease of purchase, and customer mindedness. One in four consumers has experienced difficulty and has complained.
Of the three sectors identified as causing most problems for consumers, energy is the one which consumers spend most (5.7% of their household budget) and within energy, electricity takes up the highest part of consumer spending (2.1%). The retail electricity market will be the target for the follow up market study for 2009 to further investigate consumer conditions on specific household conditions, for example comparability of offers, unfair commercial practices and billing.
Other results. The report indicates that the relative importance of cross-border retail trade is stalling. The proportion of cross border trade has not increased since 2006. The national benchmarking, indicates major difference between member states in terms of national consumer environments - with particular room for improvement of enforcement and redress mechanism. (L.C./transl.rh)