On the 9th of November, the Commission published the Proposal for the Consumer Programme 2014-2020. The programme aims to foster a Europe of active, informed and empowered consumers who can contribute to economic growth. The total budget will be EUR 197 millions over 7 years. The objective is to put consumers at the centre of the Single Market and empower them to participate actively in the market and make it work for them, particularly by:
Enhancing product safety through efficient market surveillance (monitoring and enforcing safety through RAPEX and developing cooperation with international partners to deal with the impact of the globalisation of the production chain on product safety).
The Commission is planning to simplify the funding process by establishing an EU level coordination body for market surveillance relating to safety. This body should be established in the context of the revision of the General Product Safety Directive in order to ensure streamlining of the funding procedures, better planning, coordination and information sharing between Member States' authorities. The body will not take the form of an agency.
Improving consumers' information, education and awareness of their rights.
Consolidating consumer rights and strengthening effective redress, especially through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
Strengthening the enforcement of cross-border rights (e.g. Sweeps, CPC Network and ECC-Net).
In the annex to the programme, an overview of all the actions is given.
The Commission proposal can be found at:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2011:0707:FIN:EN:PDF
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