Tuesday 29 May 2012

7th Consumer Scoreboard

Today the European Commission published the results of the 7th Consumer Scoreboard, a monitoring tool addressing the position of the consumer on the European market. The tool is published twice a year: a spring edition on "consumer conditions", examining progress in the integration of the EU retail market from the consumers' perspective, and an autumn edition on "consumer markets", dealing with the different specific consumer markets in order to identify which of these markets may be malfunctioning. The consumer conditions scoreboard published today deals with issues such as quality of regulation, effectiveness of dispute resolution and consumers' trust in market actors, including enforcement authorities and consumer associations. The Consumer Conditions Index has slightly risen compared to previous years. This is partly caused by a higher complaint ratio and growing satisfaction about dispute resolution. At the same time, consumers are becoming more worried about unfair commercial practices and about product safety. For more information, including the index for each Member State, click here.