WHAT'S NEW: NAIS TOOK PART IN EUROPEAN CONSUMER SUMMIT 2021

On March 15, 2021, World Consumer Rights Day, the annual consumer summit was held. It has been held online for the first time. More than 700 participants, consumer policy makers, national law enforcement agencies, academia, consumer and business organizations and youth representatives discussed the operational priorities for the coming year related to the implementation of the Consumer Agenda.

The meeting was held under the aegis of Portugal’s Council Presidency and the European Commission.

Four workshops focused on Covid-19 impact on consumer protection, greening consumption, and enforcing consumer rights in the digital transformation. The Executive Director of NAIS, Ms. Svilena Nasalevska, also joined the discussions of the workshop on "Consumer Protection in the Digital Age - How to Accelerate the Transition?"

All participants voted for the proposals of these workshops. Here are the ones that stood out the most among them and how they were arranged as priorities by the voters - the percentage of the participants who voted for the proposal is given in brackets.

EU legislation needs to be establish clear responsibilities for platforms to prevent and react to

consumer scams by their business users (50 %)

  1. To equip enforcement authorities with appropriate e-enforcement tools (such as the eLab) for

detection of infringements in the digital environment (43 %)

  1. Adopt a No data/no claims- Life Cycle Analysis approach: Commission, Member States and

stakeholders to work together on agreeing common standards on product lifecycle (36 %)

Hereunder the list of the other proposals for operational conclusions from the Consumer Summit

workshops:

  • Member States need to ensure consumer reimbursements for cancelled trips (29 %)
  • Promote consumer education initiatives on sustainable consumption, including through

targeted actions addressing specific segments of consumers, such as young and elderly

consumers (29 %)

  • To organise an annual workshop with authorities, businesses and stakeholders on consumer

challenges in the digital society (21 %)

  • Representative action: workshop on implementation (20 %)
  • Further develop guidance on the application and enforcement of consumer law in the area of

green claims (19 %)

  • National multi-stakeholder network on enforcement (13 %)
  • Memorandum of Understanding on enforcement cooperation (13 %)
  • Support for low income consumers whose vulnerability has been worsened by the pandemic

(10%)

  • To carry out a CPC sweep on fake and misleading reviews (8 %)

Do not miss the next publications in the News section of nais.bg. In the section "Consumer Reader" we will tell you about the most interesting conclusions from the research of the European Commission, conducted in 2020, on consumer habits and the way the Covid-19 pandemic has affected European consumers.

In the section "Handbook for Trade Leaders" we will continue the series "ARE CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS A GOOD THING AND HOW MUCH DOES AN UNDERRATED COMPLAINT COST"

If you are dissatisfied with the purchase of a product and service, remember that you can put claim and try to solve the conflict with the help of alternative dispute resolution body. NAIS solves crossborder consumer disputes in the ODR platform of the European Union.

Follow NAIS profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook to stay up to date with the latest in online dispute resolution.

Published on 19.03.2021 Back to news