Institutional consumer representation in the European Community

This contribution is concerned with the possibilities of consumer participation in the formulation of consumer policy by the European Commission. Consumer influence in other EC bodies — such as the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee — is considered in so far as they determine the extent of consumer representation at the Commission level. After reviewing the legal basis for consumer representation, special attention is given to the development and the activities of the Consumers Consultative Council and the Consumer Policy Service. Their impact on the entire consumer policy of the Community is analysed as well as the restrictions which they face. Finally, requirements for a more efficient consumer representation at the Commission level are formulated.

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Die Vertretung der Verbraucher in den Institutionen der Europäischen Gemeinschaft

Zusammenfassung Dieser Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit den Möglichkeiten der Beteiligung organisierter Verbraucher am Proze\ der Formulierung der Verbraucherpolitik der EG-Kommission. Der Einflu\ der Verbraucher auf audere Organe der Gemeinschaft — insbesondere das Europäische Parlament und den Wirtschafts- und Sozialausschu\ — wird insoweit berücksichtigt, als er auf die Handlungsmöglichkeiten der Verbraucher auf der Ebene der Kommission zurückwirkt. Nach einem Blick auf die rechtlichen Grundlagen der Verbrauchervertretung setzt sich der Beitrag vor allem mit der Entwicklung und den Leistunger des Beratenden Verbraucherrats (BVR/CCC) und der Verbraucherpolitischen Dienststelle der Kommission auseinander. Der Einflu\ beider Einrichtungen auf die Verbraucherpolitik der Gemeinschaft wird ebenso untersucht wie die Grenzen, die ihrem Handeln gezogen sind. Abschlie\end werden einige Voraussetzungen für eine wirksamere Verbrauchervertretung auf der Ebene der Kommission herausgearbeitet.

     

Interactions between trade and environmental policies in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is obliged to implement pollution charges in accordance with the EU environmental policy. The charges may affect international competitiveness of the country, since they are applied to the domestically produced, but not to the imported commodities. We investigate how such environmental taxation of six main pollutants affects the Czech competitiveness. Using computable general equilibrium modeling with bottom-up approach, we consider a small-open economy with endogenous unemployment and ten types of taxes. A distinction between taxes on products and taxes on production is essential for analysis of a fiscal policy. Emissions reduction is possible in our model either through substitution with less polluting inputs, or a reduction of output, or through technical abatement. The last channel for emission reduction is ignored by other studies. The results show that the imports should not be affected by the tax reform, except for coal. Exports will increase in the non-energy-intensive and the biomass industries, but it will decrease in the chemical, the coal, and the metal industries. The overall effect on the trade balance is slightly negative. We conclude that investments in energy-saving technologies are necessary in order to preserve international competitiveness.     

European environmental policy between decentralisation and uniformity

Does the European Union require a common environmental policy? While there are a number of arguments in favour of shifting competences for environmental policy to the European level, there are also fields in which decentralised policies appear to make more sense. The following article reviews the pros and cons of centralism and decentralism in European environmental policy and concludes that the Union must integrate elements of both options into its constitutional order.     

The interrelationship between temporal and environmental orientation and pro‐environmental consumer behaviour

It is proposed that consumers fail to make environmentally conscious choices because they do not consider the long‐term impact of their actions. This research examines the role of consumers' temporal orientation (past and future) in regard to their environmental orientation and pro‐environmental consumer behaviour (PECB), using a representative sample of 2566 Australian respondents. The results identify that both future and past orientations are related to environmental orientation, with future orientation leading to increased levels of PECB and past orientation leading to reduced levels of PECB. Further, environmental orientation mediates the relationship between temporal orientation and PECB, suppressing the negative impact of high levels of past orientation.     

European Union policies and practice

Abstract: Early attempts to build a harmonized legal system for banking and financial services throughout the EU met insurmountable difficulties. The shift towards the single market approach in the mid-1980s has been much more successful in terms of removing the obstacles preventing banks and other financial services organizations from establishing themselves and selling their services wherever they choose throughout the EU. The theory has been that consumers would benefit in terms of wider choice and lower prices, but consumer protection needs have been relatively neglected until recently. The emphasis is now changing, and there is widespread recognition that consumer protection aspects of the marketing of banking and financial services need special consideration. However, there is still an unfinished agenda of consumer issues, including distance selling of financial services, overindebtedness, mortgage credit, better consumer information and improved systems of providing redress.     

Advances in consumer education: European initiatives

The purpose of this article is to inform the reader of developments in consumer education in the European Union and to present future directions for policy and research. The article responds to a call for more consumer education and the promotion of sustainable consumption. It makes a case for the benefits of studying the dynamic multi‐country process of developing coordinated consumer education curriculum and resources involving academics, government officials and non‐governmental organizations, ultimately affecting millions of students. The review of select initiatives, questions posed and subsequent recommendations highlights the complexity of the issues surrounding economic viability and the pedagogical and social value of transnational consumer education initiatives.     

Customer satisfaction and consumer expenditure in selected European countries

The relationship between customer satisfaction and company performance has been extensively researched at both the consumer and firm levels. However, little is known about the impact of customer satisfaction at the economy-wide level, especially in Europe. This study aims to link customer satisfaction to personal consumption expenditure using panel data collected from 1999 to 2011 and covering nine European countries. Our findings suggest a significant relationship between customer satisfaction and consumer expenditure in these countries. In addition, economic structure, culture, political economy and socio-economic factors have been examined to understand the impact of cross-country differences on this relationship. The results reflect the importance of satisfied consumers on the economy as a whole; thus, efforts at boosting customer satisfaction should become a national agenda.     

Pressure group power in the European Community

The renewed attention to the strengthening of the internal market of the European Community heralded by the Single European Act of 1986 is likely to produce a quantum leap in pressure group activity in Brussels, as business interests line up to exert their influence on the many harmonisation measures that are in the pipeline. How great an influence have European pressure groups exerted up till now? In what spheres has this influence been felt most strongly?     

The European Community and the third world

For quite some time, and with Increasing commitment, people in the member states of the European Community have been discussing the question which role the Community should play in future as regards the developing countries in Africa, Asla and Latin America. From numerous quarters, the view is being voiced with mounting urgency that Europe should contribute more intensively towards solving the manifoid problems of the Third World.     

Poverty in the European Community: Trends and debates

Economic insecurity and poverty represent a growing problem in the European Community today, with the re-emergence of absolute poverty on a scale unknown since the 1940's. Are we creating a new “underclass” in the midst of our still prosperous societies?     

贸易政策、非关税壁垒与环境保护

对外贸易政策主要是经济政策,它会直接对环境产品和服务贸易产生影响,这些政策主要是由原对外贸易经济合作部、国家进出口商品检验局负责制定与实施的。目前,中国与环境产品与服务有关的贸易政策大致可分为四类:第一类是与环境有关的进出口商品质量标准;第二类是在与世界各国贸易的交往中,因涉及产品的质量、环境和卫生标准问题而实施的法规和政策;第三类是根据我国参加国际公约和协定涉及环     

European Community Merger Control in the Service Industries

This article examines the application of the EC Merger Regulation to service industries in the light of the 50 final decisions relating to services taken in its first two years of operation. These cases generally raised few competition concerns and only one (Accor/Wagons-Lits) has led to full proceedings. However they have raised important questions about the calculation of turnover, definition of control and treatment of joint ventures as well as uncertainties about jurisdiction. An understanding of the Commission's evolving policy will be of increasing importance as service industries internationalise, especially if thresholds for investigation are eventually lowered as the Commission has proposed.     

Internet and distance channel use and European consumer complaint behavior

This exploratory study analyzes the effect of distance-shopping channel choice (i.e. the format first used by consumers in a retail transaction) on consumer complaint behavior, with a special focus on the Internet channel. It analyzes 2011 Eurobarometer data using a logistic regression model controlling for sociodemographic and country-specific variables to measure the impact of using the Internet, post/catalog, and telephone channels on complaint behavior. The results indicate that consumers using the Internet channel exhibit the greatest likelihood of complaint behavior when compared to consumers using traditional distance-shopping channels. Implications and suggestions for retailers are discussed, as are the contributions to the consumer complaint behavior literature.     

Decoding codes: The dialogue between consumers and suppliers through codes of conduct in the European Community

The second Consumer Action Programme of the European Community (1981) has introduced the idea of a dialogue between producers and consumers, leading to voluntary agreements or codes of conduct. Today, several types of codes exist within the area of the European Community. They differ in their geographic origin, their adoption procedure and their modus operandi. Many codes are good examples of a new type of rule-making in European consumer affairs, namely sponsored regulation. In between the public and the private normative order, a grey area of paralegal norms is existing and developing steadily. The EC authorities often prefer to provide the conditions for rule-making by private parties instead of producing norms themselves. In those cases, codes of conduct may replace the law, substitute it, or add to it. Codes of conduct are not the only possible output of the dialogue between producers and consumers, nor are they the only example of sponsored regulation. Others are model contracts, complaint boards, and standardization institutes.

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Der Dialog zwischen Verbrauchern und Anbietern mit Hilfe von Verhaltenskodices in der Europäischen Gemeinschaft

Zusammenfassung Das zweite Verbraucheraktionsprogramm der Europäischen Gemeinschaft aus dem Jahr 1981 führt die Idee eines Dialoges zwischen Produzenten und Konsumenten ein. Dieser Dialog soll zu freiwilligen Vereinbargungen über Verhaltensrichtlinien führen. Der Beitrag gibt zunächst einen Überblick über die recht unterschiedlichen Formen solcher Kodices im Bereich der Europäischen Gemeinschaft. Unter geographischem Gesichtspunkt werden nationale, internationale und übernationale Kodices unterschieden, unter dem Gesichtspunkt des Vereinbarungsverfahrens unilaterale, bilaterale und trilaterale Kodices, und schließlich unter dem des modus operandi ursprüngliche, gemeinschaftliche und administrierte Kodices.Zahlreiche Kodizes sind ein Beispiel für einen neuen Typ von Regulierung im Bereich europäischer Verbraucherangelegenheiten, nämlich geförderte Regulierung. Diese Form der Regulierung entwickelt sich zwischen den klassischen Formen, nämlich dem staatlich geschaffenen Recht einerseits und der privat geschaffenen Selbstregulierung andererseits. Dazwischen wächst eine Grauzone mit rechtsähnlichen Regelungen. Statt selbst Normen zu schaffen, regen die EC-Behörden die beteiligten Parteien verstärkt an, sich ihre Normen zu schaffen, indem sie ihnen die formellen und inhaltlichen Bedingungen dafür zur Verfügung stellen. Kodices sind ein Beispiel für solche geförderte Regulierung, aber nicht das einzige. Die Beziehung zwischen Kodices und Gesetzgebung ist oft komplex. Kodices können rechtliche Vorschriften ersetzen (aktive Deregulierung), anstelle von Gesetzgebung treten (vorbeugende Regulierung) oder zur Gesetzgebung hinzutreten.Schließlich sind Verhaltenskodices nicht das einzige Ergebnis des Dialoges zwischen Produzenten und Konsumenten. Andere sind Musterverträge, die von den beteiligten Seiten ausgehandelt werden, ferner Beschwerdestellen zur Behandlung von Verbruaucherbeschwerden, sowie Standardisierungseinrichtungen, die seit der neuen Politik der Kommission neue Bedeutung gewinnen.

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Luc Huyse is Professor of Sociology of Law at the Faculty of Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Law and Society Institute, Hooverplein 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. Stephan Parmentier is a Research Assistant at the Law and Society Institute. The Research was supported by grant OT/88/2 from the Research Fund of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.     

Some consequences of the single market for European and Danish consumer policy

In this paper, the future of consumer policy within the context of the European single market will be estimated. As the scope of the EC for consumer action is mainly economic, a broader social approach will be used as the theoretical framework. Within such an approach, consumer problems and consumer policy will be characterized, and three paradigms describing the social and political influence of consumers will be discussed as possible guidelines for consumer action. In the light of these guidelines and available published knowledge of the single market, consumer policy at Community level and in Denmark will be analysed.