The European Commission is poised to table a new Framework Directive to plug loopholes in existing legislation and clamp down on unfair commercial practices.
In the proposal it is hoping to approve at its June 18 meeting, the Commission says it wants to establish an updated, flexible and harmonised consumer protection framework, on the one hand, and and promote good business practice across an enlarged EU, on the other.
The EU executive reckons that the promotion and guarantee of "fair commercial practices" are essential building-blocks in consumer-supplier relations.
In this context, business practices concern consumers’ own economic interests, unlike wider aspects such as their health and safety, which ate subject to separate rules and regulations.
The logic behind this notion, in the Commission’s view at least, is to promote a free and fair market which is competitive and transparent and provides a sound basis for consumers and suppliers to carry out their transactions in confidence.
Businesses and clients alike could benefit from measures designed to outlaw unfair or misleading commercial practices that exploit consumers and lead to unfair competition.
Consumers could thus benefit from better quality and less expensive goods and services, as well as more innovations thanks to wider savings and a more competitive commercial environment.
Despite the often wide price variations from one EU country to another, the Commission regrets that cross-border shopping has not really taken off, remaining moreorless stagnant over the last decade.
The main reason seems to be that consumers are worried that their rights will not be guaranteed to the same extent abroad as in their home country. On the business side of the equation, the relatively low level of cross-border transactions may be attributed to obstacles caused by legislation on advertising and divergent consumer protection rules.
Compiled by Florence Berteletti Kemp, Eurocare.
