This Commission report constitutes a further step in
the reform process of Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European
Parliament and of the Council on cooperation between national
authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection
laws (CPC Regulation). It integrates the biennial reports submitted
by the Commission and the Member States as well as the outcome of
the public consultation in the relevant areas.
The CPC Regulation provides that the Union shall
cooperate with third countries and with the competent international
organisations in the areas covered by this Regulation in order to
enhance the protection of consumers’ economic interests. This
unique framework brings together national authorities from all EU
Member States. Its primary aim is to tackle cross-border
infringements by establishing procedures for information exchange,
cross-border enforcement requests and coordinated actions, to
prevent infringing traders from moving between Member States to
exploit gaps in jurisdictional boundaries.
Advantages of the CPC Regulation: the report notes that since 2007, the implementation
of the CPC Regulation has overall produced positive results and
it has created a network-based cooperation mechanism exemplary for
other areas of the Single Market. It has brought substantial
benefits to EU consumers. In particular:
- the CPC mutual assistance mechanism provided a
clear and comprehensive legal framework for mutual exchanges of
information and cross-border enforcement actions. The most
important innovation is the possibility to enforce consumer
protection law across borders. By the end of 2013, Member States
made in total 1454 mutual assistance requests, which comprised 699
information requests and 755 enforcement requests;
- the "sweeps" (an
EU-specific format for websites checks on airline tickets, mobile
phone content, consumer credit) and common enforcement approaches
based on the CPC Regulation allowed the Member States to coordinate
their enforcement approaches on a larger scale. The sweeps identify
breaches of consumer law in a given on-line market and to
subsequently ensure compliance through enforcement activities.
Since 2007, sweeps have taken place on a yearly basis, coordinated
by the European Commission and run simultaneously by national
enforcement authorities in the participating countries. Although
voluntary, nearly all Member States participated each year. In the
period 2007-2013, over 3000 websites were checked;
- the CPC alert mechanism provided for the first time a framework for Member
States to exchange information about emerging infringements and to
determine infringements which may require a coordinated
approach.
Improve the cooperation mechanism: the Commission considers that the CPC Regulation
remains highly relevant and an asset for the future of the EU
consumer policy. The Evaluation, the Commission and Member States
biennial reports, as well as the outcome of the public
consultation, clearly point to the need for a comprehensive
guidance for the CPC network, notably to find a smarter way to
address the new challenges brought by the digital
economy.
Further development of the CPC
framework, including a possible
revision of CPC Regulation, in the following areas could be
needed:
- the mutual assistance mechanisms, including
legal and procedural issues and provisions ensuring overall
cooperation, may need clarification and strengthening;
- common enforcement activities such as sweeps or the recently launched common
enforcement actions are effective and should be extended to
other sectors; further progress is needed, as experience with
certain CPC cases showed, to combat fraudulent and aggressive
commercial practices, which may require specific enforcement
means;
- the CPC market monitoring and alert mechanism may
need to be developed to ensure fast identification of emerging
threats to consumers that would require CPC action, in
particular, the possibility to associate other actors, such as
consumer organisations and European Consumer Centres, should be
studied;
- resolve difficulties arising from different national
procedural rules and standards applicable in enforcement
proceedings as they appear as a barrier to effective and efficient
cooperation. The toolbox of competent authorities, their minimum
common powers, may also need clarifying;
- ensure that the Commission plays a more active role
in the CPC network. More needs to be done in the future against
widespread EU-level relevant infringements that cause significant
harm to the EU economy;
- in view of increasing challenges triggered by
trading practices originating from third countries in a
globalised digital economy, further cooperation with international
partners may be needed.
To determine the best possible way to use CPC
cooperation for the benefit of the Member States and to enable all
stakeholders to have positive returns, the Commission is currently
carrying out impact assessment studies. These will examine
the full range of options available for addressing the enforcement
challenges of the future – from maintaining the current
framework, to introducing new legislation – and should lay the
ground for the Commission to decide on the most effective policy
response.