Fair business practices

Consumer

EU consumer policy priorities include:

• protecting your health, safety and economic well-being
• promoting your rights to information and education
• safeguarding your interests and encouraging self-help associations.

An EU market for consumers

In an effective, integrated EU economy based on EU-wide rules, you should be able to buy goods and services in other EU countries confident that your consumer rights will be protected if something goes wrong.

The EU’s consumer protection programme (2007-13) aims to give you a high level of legal protection and make sure the law is properly enforced .

Whether you shop at the market or online, the EU protects your rights.

Looking after your interests

EU policy ensures a high level of consumer safety in many areas:

• there are special safety requirements for toys, electrical appliances, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food, lighters, personal protective equipment, machinery and recreational craft
• strict rules help ensure that defective products are recalled. The EU receives more than 2,000 reports of dangerous or unsafe products each year, principally relating to toys and clothes and textiles (e.g. loose cords on children's clothes, toxic chemicals in shoes and upholstery).

The EU also safeguards consumers’ wider interests in areas such as:

• fair business practices
• misleading and comparative advertising
• price indicators and labelling
• unfair contract terms
• distance and doorstep selling
• timeshares and package holidays
• travellers’ rights
• nutritional and health claims
• novel foods
• 
  food ingredients and packaging.

All toys have to meet EU safety standards.

Fair business practices

In response to the growth of financial services and electronic commerce, the Commission has proposed guidelines for good on-line business practicesand rules for all aspects of consumer credit and non-cash payments.

Consumer interests are already factored into laws liberalising key public services like transport, electricity and gas, telecommunications and post. As a result you should enjoy universal access to high-quality services at affordable prices.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 703