Consumer rights to information and education

Consumers need to be put in a position where they can make an informed choice among goods and services offered. This includes objective information on the features and price of the items available. Consumers also require proper information about their efficient and safe use.

4. The right to redress

Consumers have the right to receive advice and help when seeking redress for faulty products or for injury or damage resulting from the use of goods and services. There need to be simple, affordable and rapid procedures for settling complaints and claims.

5. Consumer representation and participation

Representatives of consumers need to be present in decision-taking procedures on issues of concern to them at local, national or EU level. At Union level, this covers not only specific consumer issues but also other relevant policy areas like food laws, transport, competition poli­cy, financial services, environment and the like.

When the Community (the former name of European Union) adopt­ed its first consumer programme in 1975, it focused on the practical application of the five principles. As a first result, a number of direc­tives were adopted over the next 10 years covering among other things the safety of cosmetic products, the labelling of foodstuff, misleading advertising, consumer rights in door-step selling, product liability and the provision of consumer credit.

In addition to its programme of legislation on consumer protection, the Union took steps to make sure the interests of consumers are taken into account at local and EU level. It has supported the development of national consumer organizations and of five major EU-wide organiza­tions with consumer interests.

These are:

— The European Consumer's Organization (BEUC),

— The Confederation of Family Organizations in the European

Union (Coface),

— The European Community of Consumer Cooperatives

(Eurocoop),

— The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and

— The European Interregional Institute for Consumer Affairs

(EIICA)

Internally, the European Commission created an independent

Consumer Policy Service in 1989 in order to give more authority and a higher profile to the implementation of consumer policy.

According to the data of 1991, nearly 64 % of Community GDP is devoted to private consump­tion, the highest proportion being 70.3 % in Greece and the lowest 52.5 % in Denmark (63.4 % in UK). The remainder of the GDP is devoted mainly to financing investments and the collective consump­tion of general government.

On average, Europeans devote 20 % of their 'consumption' budget to food (ranging from 37.8 % in Greece to 16.6 % in Germany, 21.5 % in UK) whereas 17.2 % covers housing expenditure (27.8 % in Denmark as against 10.3 % in Portugal, 18.5 % in UK). There are also marked disperities in spending on leisure and education (4.3 % in Luxembourg compared with 10.5 % in Ireland, with a UK average of 9.7 %).

There is plenty to be done, even after the legislative programme set out in the Maastricht Treaty on European Union is completed. The sin­gle market, like any other, needs to balance the interests of buyers and sellers if it is to operate efficiently. This means not only fixing addi­tional rules for consumer protection but also ensuring that existing ones are applied correctly (which is not always the case).

Ответьте на вопросы к тексту:

1. State five main principles of EU policy of consumer protec­tion.

2.What organizations are involved in this process?

3. When was the first consumer programme adopted?

4. What is the 'consumption' structure in Great Britain?

5.What kind of legislative programme is mentioned in the text?