The new law, which was originally proposed by the Commission in
July 2003, seeks to remove barriers to information exchange and
co-operation. It also empowers enforcement authorities to seek and
obtain action from their counterparts in other Member States.
According to the Commission, catching rogue traders is hard
enough in a single Member State but it can become almost impossible
when they relocate to another country, as increasing numbers appear
to be doing.
The growth of new technologies and opportunities is simply
exacerbating the problem, with trade group the European Advertising
Standards Alliance (EASA) estimating that around 63% of the
cross-border complaints received between 1992 and 2002 concerned
rogue or peripheral traders.
The Commission therefore concluded that co-operation between
national consumer protection authorities is the only way to tackle
the rogue traders, who have recently been responsible for such
scams as misleading and threatening clairvoyance services, modem
hi-jacking, deceptive prize draws, unsolicited first aid kits
accompanied by demands for payment, direct marketing of slimming
products to children and misleading marketing by 'holiday
clubs'.
The new law is designed to enable national authorities to
exchange information and co-operate with counterparts in other
Member States as easily and seamlessly as with other authorities in
their own country.
It obliges each Member State to enforce EU law in its territory
on behalf of all EU consumers, and requires them to designate a
public enforcement authority to be part of the EU-wide mutual
assistance network. Each of these authorities will be able to call
on other members of the network for assistance in investigating
possible breaches of consumer laws, and taking action against rogue
traders. The hope is that this will boost the confidence of
consumers and business in the Internal Market.
"Cross-border scams don't just cheat consumers. They also
undermine confidence in the EU's Internal Market. Member States
need to work together to root out the rip-off merchants. Our
EU-wide enforcement network gives them the means to do that", said
David Byrne, the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer
Protection.
"Rogue traders have been put on notice: they will soon have no
hiding places in the EU," he added.
The regulation on consumer protection cooperation was approved
by the Council of Ministers on Thursday evening and should come
into force in 2006, according to the Commission.
