Internal Market and Consumer Affairs Committee

Current issues in the Internal Market Committee (IMCO)

Consumer Rights Directive - Strengthening your rights across Europe

Since 2004, the European Commission has been reviewing the various EU laws on consumer protection. In 2008, following calls from the European Parliament, the Commission came forward with a proposal to simplify 4 of the existing EU Directives on consumer protection into one single law.

The proposal aims to improve the functioning of the internal market and to achieve a high common level of consumer protection across the EU. At the moment, while there is a minimum standard of consumer protection rules throughout the EU, protection levels still vary greatly across different Member States, and this creates confusion for both consumers and businesses. Under the proposals, businesses will be able to work within a single legal framework and consumers will be able to rely on same level of protection across the EU.

Some of the rights contained in the proposal include:

  • The right to have defective goods replaced or repaired within two years of the purchase.
  • A cooling-off period of 14 calendar days for online purchases.
  • Protection against the risk of loss or damage to goods during transportation

We will work to ensure that the final Directive ensures as high a level of consumer protection as possible, as well as ensuring that businesses can trust in a harmonised legal framework.

For more information about consumer rights in the EU please visit this section of the European Commission website

Food Labelling - Proper information for consumers

In the Parliament we are currently discussing proposals to change the rules on food labelling. For many of us this is seen as a good opportunity to improve the information that is given to consumers about the ingredients, nutritional values, and country of origin of food products so that they can make informed choices.

However, unfortunately other MEPs see the unnecessary burden on companies as more important than consumer rights and are opposed to improving information for consumers. Therefore there is an ongoing debate in the Parliament.

Research conducted by the Food Standards Agency in the UK shows the typical shopper takes only four seconds to decide whether to buy a product after picking it up from the shelves. We therefore need front of pack labelling to be clear and easy-to-understand if we want to help people make healthier choices. For example, research has shown that has shown that red, amber and green colour coding (the so-called traffic light system) is key to helping consumers make healthier choices when shopping. Labour MEPs are therefore pushing strongly for this to be included.

Whilst this report is mainly being discussed in the Environment and Public Health Committee, the IMCO Committee is also involved, and we will try to ensure that the interests of the consumer are put at the forefront in the Parliament's final decision.

SOLVIT - solving your internal market problems

SOLVIT is a network of centres in EU Member States which solves problems encountered by consumers and companies due to the poor application of EU internal market laws. It has been operating since 2002 and has helped many citizens and businesses who have faced problems in another EU country, for example with recognition of professional qualifications or access to a market for a product.

SOLVIT is a very important service to ensure that the internal market functions properly, but MEPs are working hard to keep improving it.  In March 2010 we voted on a report that aims to strengthen the SOLVIT network and to address some of its weaknesses.

Most importantly we argued that citizens and businesses need to be fully informed, both about how SOLVIT might be able to help them, but also about their rights in the internal market in general. We also want to ensure that SOLVIT centres receive adequate resources and that their staff are properly trained and speak English as well as another EU language.

On the IMCO Committee we will continue to monitor the SOLVIT network and aim to ensure that it continues to provide effective help to consumer and companies.

To find out more information about SOLVIT please follow this link: SOLVIT website