The proposal for a 2014-2020 Consumer Programme was adopted by the European Commission on 9 November 2011. It will be discussed by the budgetary authorities from December 2011.

• Press Release
• Questions & Answers

See EU Budget 2014-2020: Commission unveils new and ambitious Health and Consumer Programmes : Today, the European Commission adopted proposals for the new Health for Growth and Consumer Programmes. The two programmes aim to foster a Europe of healthy, active, informed and empowered citizens, who can contribute to economic growth. And read Memo "Q&A: Health and Consumer Programmes 2014-2020"

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The Consumer Programme will support EU consumer policy in the years to come. Its objective is to place consumers at the centre of the Single Market and empower them to participate actively in the market and make it work for them, particularly by:

• Enhancing product safety through effective market surveillance;
• Improving consumers' information, education and awareness of their rights;
• Consolidating consumer rights and strengthening effective redress, especially through alternative dispute resolution;
• Strengthening enforcement of rights cross-border.

In announcing the new Health and Consumer programmes, Commissioner Dalli said, "These two programmes are about people; about fostering the conditions for people to live to their full potential and play a key role in society and in the economy. Keeping people healthy and active for longer is good for people and is good for jobs and growth. Confident, empowered consumers create thriving markets. I am confident the two programmes will make a significant contribution to achieving Europe 2020goals – to create smart, sustainable and inclusive growth by the end of this decade".

What the Consumer Programme aims to achieve:

This programme aims to build on the previous programme by focussing action on empowerment of the consumer through safety, information and education, rights and redress and enforcement actions. Actions will focus on:

• Monitoring and enforcing safety through EU-wide systems such as RAPEX, the EU rapid alert system for dangerous consumer products
• Information and education initiatives to make consumers, particularly young consumers, aware of their rights. This includes also the continuing development of the evidence base for better policy making at both EU and national level on consumer issues, with, for example, the Consumer Markets Scoreboard which maps out the markets that fail consumers in Europe;
• Delivering legislation aimed at enhancing consumer rights, for example the Consumer Credit Directive which ensures that consumers across Europe enjoy a common set of core rights, including the right to receive clear and comparable information before committing themselves financially; and Redress, where good preparatory work has been done, particularly, on Alternative Dispute Resolution.
• Enforcement action through "Sweeps" operations, which are co-ordinated by the European Commission and carried out simultaneously by national consumer enforcement authorities to see where consumer rights are being compromised or denied;

The new Health and Consumer Programmes are part of the EU's financial priorities for 2014-2020 (the EU Multiannual Financial Framework), which was announced by the European Commission in June. These proposals will now be discussed by the European Parliament and Council of Ministers, with a view to adoption by the end of 2013, to allow for the start of the new health and consumer programmes in 2014.

Further information:
For information on the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 please see: http://europa.eu/press_room/press_packs/multiannual_financial_framework_2014_2020/index_en.htm
For information on the 2008-2013 Health Programme "Together for Health" http://ec.europa.eu/health/programme/policy/index_en.htm
For information on the 2008-2013 Consumer Programme: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/strategy/programmes_en.htm
Commissioner John Dalli's website: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/dalli/index_en.htm
See also: MEMO/11/764

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Extracts: Q&A: Health and Consumer Programmes 2014-2020

Consumer Programme

1. What are the main objectives of the Consumer Programme?

The Consumer Programme will support EU consumer policy in the years to come, contributing to the objective of placing consumers at the centre of the Single Market. The key principle is to empower consumers to participate actively in the market and make it work for them in a way which protects their safety and economic rights and interests, in particular by:

• Reinforcing and enhancing product safety through effective market surveillance;
• Improving consumers' information, education and awareness of their rights, working closely in partnership with Member States;
• Consolidating consumer rights and strengthening effective redress, especially through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms;
• Strengthening enforcement cross-border by enhancing co-operation between national enforcement bodies and by supporting consumers with advice.

Evidence base and research confirm that these priorities are the right way forward for consumer policy and are in keeping with the EU 2020 agenda.

2. Why do we need a new Consumer Programme at EU level?

"Confident consumers create thriving markets". More than ever, in the current economic climate, consumers need and have the right to be protected against physical and economic harm. More than ever, well-informed and knowledgeable consumers can drive innovation and growth by demanding value, quality and service. More than ever businesses which respond will benefit most. New needs have appeared as a consequence of the economic crisis and new ways of shopping, such as e-commerce and digital services. Consumer information also needs to keep apace with developments in the markets such as liberalisation of markets (for example in energy or telecommunications). The current program ends at the end of 2013 and a new program is necessary to continue work in four key areas:

Safety

In the field of safety, actions at EU level and cooperation through the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) network delivers better results than a series of individual actions by Member States since it fills information gaps and avoids disparities in the Single Market. Better coordination also enables the enforcement network to more efficiently address risks resulting from the supply chain spanning the globe.

Information and education

Consumer markets monitoring helps to identify weaknesses in national markets and Single Market obstacles that could be removed to improve innovation and competition. The data gathered can be used not only at EU but also at national level, thereby delivering some EU-scale efficiency gains and enabling Member States' benchmarking. Support for strong and coherent representation from the consumer movement at EU level enables consolidated consumer input into EU policy-making. Capacity-building for national consumer organisations is especially useful for organisations in the new Member States. EU consumer information and education initiatives increase consumer knowledge and confidence in cross-border transactions, thus supporting the completion of the Single Market. They facilitate best practice sharing between Member States and will contribute to the creation of a single, coherent and authoritative source of information and education at EU level.

Rights and redress

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) will offer a cheap, rapid and easy way of getting redress throughout the EU. The financing of a European platform for Online Dispute Resolution (ODR), which we envisage for the future, will lead to a co-ordinated approach, creating economies of scales and synergies.

Enforcement

The European Consumer Centres' network contributes to the completion of the Single Market by providing advice and support to consumers on cross-border issues, which national authorities and consumer organisations are most often not in a position to do. Coordinated joint enforcement actions with the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national enforcement authorities such as the 'sweeps' are a very efficient way to tackle issues which have a cross-border EU dimension.

3. How big is the financial envelope?

The financial envelope is 197 millions euros over 7 years (approximately 25 million euros per year + inflation). This is a relatively small budget, used to support and complement national policies from the Member States. It has however a crucial role to play in supporting the following actions:

• actions corresponding to legal obligations under the Treaty and existing EU acquis in the field of consumer policy (e.g. the maintenance and functioning of the EU rapid alert system for dangerous products² , RAPEX, and the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network of national enforcement authorities)
• actions which due to their EU level character are not undertaken at national level or where EU action is more efficient than actions at national level (for instance, with regard to cross-border cases, operating the European Consumer Centres (ECC) Network, establishing and operating an On-line Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform )
• actions complementing and enhancing the efficiency of actions at national level (e.g. co-ordinating and co-financing joint actions in the field of product safety and of consumer rights enforcement; supporting awareness raising campaigns on consumer issues; supporting training of national consumer organisations)

4. What are the main challenges to be addressed by the programme?

The main challenges can be grouped under the following four headings:

• Safety. There is a need to reinforce coordination of national enforcement authorities, and to address the risks linked to the globalisation of the production chain. There is a growing demand on services safety, also in the context of the population aging, and a need to address the increased sensitivity of food safety issues;
• Consumer information and education. There is a need: for comparable, reliable and user-friendly information for consumers particularly cross border; to address the issue of poor knowledge of key consumer rights by consumers and retailers alike; for robust data on how the market is serving consumers; for increased capacity of consumer organisations especially in some Member States; to improve the educational and information tools we use;
• Consumer rights and effective redress there is a need to further strengthen consumer rights, in particular in cross-border situations, and to address problems faced by consumers when trying to secure redress, notably cross-border so that consumers are confident that their rights are well protected in any other Member State as well as at home;
• Strengthening enforcement cross-border. There is a need to increase awareness about the ECC-Net (network of European Consumer Centres) among consumers and to further strengthen its effectiveness. The efficiency of the network of national enforcement authorities (CPC Network) also needs to be strengthened.

Furthermore, there is also a need to address the new societal challenges – the complexity of decision making for consumers, the need to move towards more sustainable patterns of consumption, addressing the opportunities and threats of digitalisation, the increase in social exclusion and vulnerable consumers, the ageing population.

5. Who will be the main beneficiaries?

The end beneficiaries of the Programme are European consumers, through the support offered by the Programme to consumer organisations at EU and national level, as well as Member States' national authorities in charge of product safety and enforcement with the overarching objective of improving the situation of consumers throughout the EU. The Programme will also de facto benefit reputable businesses, as effective consumer policy supports the proper functioning of the Single Market, rewards the most competitive companies and drives out rogue operators. Empowered consumers are drivers of innovation and consumer policy will therefore contribute to supporting innovative business. Finally, economic operators will benefit from a level playing field based on clear rules and better coordinated enforcement. In this context, the Programme will contribute to stimulating economic growth.

6. How will the new Consumer Programme support the EU2020 Growth Strategy?

Every one of Europe's 500 million citizens is a consumer. Consumers drive Europe's economy and the Single Market. Their expenditure amounts to 56% of EU GDP and is a huge potential as a source of growth and innovation. The more consumers are able to make informed decisions, the greater the impact they can have on strengthening the Single Market and stimulating growth. Well informed and knowledgeable consumers can drive innovation and growth by demanding value, quality and service. Businesses which respond to these demands will benefit most. This will help improve overall economic performance and meet the pressures of global challenges. The Consumer Program is fully in line with the EU2020 objectives: the digital agenda - leading to increased consumer welfare; sustainable growth - moving towards sustainable consumption; social inclusion – taking into account vulnerable consumers and aging population; smart regulation – consumer market monitoring helping to design smart and targeted regulation.

7. How does the new programme differ from the previous one?

Consumer policy at EU level is a relatively young policy. Therefore, continuity with the current 2007-2013 Programme is important in order to have an impact. However, there is a need to address the specific issues and challenges mentioned above. There is also a need to take into account the pressure on resources in all Member States, to maximise efficiency through e.g. better coordination at EU level (for instance on market surveillance), and to support the completion of the Single Market by empowering consumers, especially when going cross-border physically or on-line.

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