The European Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Meglena Kuneva, has called for a free and informed debate on consumer rights in a world that is becoming more and more digital. She made the appeal during the European Commission's celebration yesterday of World Consumer Day, where she was attending the German Presidency conference ''Challenges and opportunities in a digitalised world'' in Berlin.
The Commissioner said that ''one of the next great challenges for consumer rights is to adapt to the digital world'', stressing that this issue was too important to be left to discussions behind closed doors
This appeal comes after a Communication from the European Commission (EC), issued on 13 March, on the new EU consumer policy strategy for 2007-2013. In this document the Commission sets three key objectives for the next six years:
- To strengthen consumer rights, bringing benefits to citizens and boosting competition;
- To enhance consumers' welfare in terms of price, choice, quality, diversity, affordability and safety; and
- To protect consumers effectively from the serious risks and threats that they cannot tackle as individuals.
Further information:
- COM(2007)99 final - EU Consumer Policy strategy 2007-2013 http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/overview/cons_policy/EN%2099.pdf
- EC - Consumer Affairs http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/index_en.htm
