Activities of Constance LE GRIP related to 2011/2149(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Consumer policy (short presentation)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on a new strategy for consumer policy PDF (240 KB) DOC (173 KB)
Amendments (41)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 18
Citation 18
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 27
Citation 27
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 29
Citation 29
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 33 a (new)
Citation 33 a (new)
- having regard to Directive 2004/113/EC of the Council of 13 December 2004 implementing the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services1, __________________ 1 OJ L 373, 21.12.2004, p. 37.
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 34
Citation 34
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas, according to the Consumer Conditions Scoreboard of March 2011, 17Material Deprivation Rate index, 16.3% of the EU'’s population are poor according to the Material Deprivation Rate indexis at risk of poverty and that this percentage rises to 17.1% for women,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas, as shown in the Special Eurobarometer 342 on Consumer empowerment from April 2011, a strong majority of consumers feels confident and knowledgeable but, at the same time, an important share shows a lack of knowledge of basic consumer legislation;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas consumers do not form one single homogenous group, and whereas these conditions of inequality between consumers need to be addressed in the Consumer Agenda,s there are strong discrepancies among consumers in terms of consumer skills, awareness of legislation, assertiveness and their willingness to seek redress;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
8 Ca. whereas, according to the Special Eurobarometer 342 on Consumer empowerment from April 2011, women spend more time shopping (3.7 hours in a typical week) than men (2.8 hours)1, __________________ 1 http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumer_ empowerment/docs/report_eurobarometer _342_en.pdf page 113
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas, according to the 5th edition of the consumer conditions scoreboard of March 2011, consumers still face very different conditions across the EU;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the EU has set targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions, calling for consumption of goods to be reduced and for consumption to become more sustainable, more sustainable patterns of consumption, Or. en 10
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas a properly functioning internal market should offer consumers a wider choice of high-quality products and services at competitive prices and, at the same time, a high level of consumer protection and protection for the environmentand environment protection,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas the internal market must not be allowEU needs to grow at the expense of the conditions for the working population, and the EU needs to ensure that labour rights always take priority over the free movement of services, ensure a fair balance between labour rights and the free movement of services in the internal market, Or. en 12
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
13 G. whereas consumers seem reluctant to enjoy the benefits that market integration provides, as they do not feel confident that their rights will be properly protected when making cross-border purchasesempowered consumers can better identify the best prices, selling conditions and quality, therefore driving competition and innovation,
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
Ga. whereas, as shown in the Consumer Conditions Scoreboard from March 2011, retailers show a lack of knowledge of basic EU consumer rights which can be at the expense of consumers but also affect their willingness to trade cross-border,
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas theall stakeholders (including the European Commission and, national enforcement authorities, consumer organisations and the private sector) need to step up their efforts to achieve the objective of a high level of consumer protection, and empowerment, Or. en 14
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas, given the current economic downturn, strong and consistent enforcement is all the more important as the crisis is causing increased consumer vulnerabilityaffecting consumers' choices,
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises the need for the proper implementation of existing legislation (in particular the latest consumer rights directive) accompanied by appropriate dissemination of the new ‘rules of the game’rights and obligations of each parties;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
22 3. Highlights that one of the numerous challenges facing the Consumer Agenda: making sure private consumption becomes more sustainable, is to reducinge levels of inequality between consumers, reducing consumers' exposure to hazardous chemicals and products and protecting childr across the European Union; calls for a thorough reflection to be held among policy makers on how to design smarter policies which provide consumers the information they need and can actually use, whilst not creating additional burdens from advertisingor companies;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. CUrges Member States to fully and correctly implement existing internal market and consumers-related policies; calls on the Commission to carry out more systematic impact assessments and policy audits of the evolving ‘EU consumer acquis’, where appropriate;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Points out that, given the enormous increase in e-commerce, consumers' confidence in cross-border online purchasing arrangements needs to be increased by guaranteeing their rights on the internet as well increasing consumers’ and retailers' confidence in cross-border online purchasing is needed to reap the full potential of e-commerce; underlines the key role that proper implementation and enforcement of existing legislation, as well as the dissemination, through appropriate channels, of each party's rights and obligations play there;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses the need to ensure a more consumer-oriented balanceat consumers must be properly informed and made aware of the rights and obligations when it comes to iInternet use and the protection of intellectual property rights;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Emphasises the need to provide consumers with more transparent and comparable information, for example through unit price indication rules and accurate and transparent internet price comparison websites; 36
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Deplores the evUnderlines that empower increasing information overload on the internet as regards contract terms and conditions; g consumers does not mean overloading them with more information but providing them with useful, targeted and understandable information ; insists that EU and national authorities as well as consumer organisations and companies need to step up their efforts to improve consumer education; reiterates the view expressed in the resolution of 20 May 2010 on delivering a Single Market to consumers and citizens that the Commission ought to promote ‘consumer-friendly’ Single Market legislation, so as to ensure that consumer interests are fully taken into account in the workings of the Single Market; 42
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
44 9. Calls on the Commission and Member States to provide betadequater support, through funding for and capacity- building and publicity,to consumer organisations and public authorities in their role as intermediariesin each Member State, thereby enhancing consumer empowerment;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission to examine the implications for consumers of concentrations in libRegrets that switching of provider or tariff is still cumbersome in certain sectors, hampering consumers' freedom of choice and damaging competition; calls on the Commission to further look into this issue to ensure that consumers reap the full potential of the Internalised sectors Market;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Emphasises the need to provide better protection for vulnerable consumer groups, such as children and the elderly; points out that children are exposed to extensive advdesign consumer policies that take into consideratising even though they have no possibility to make informed choices; on the specificities of vulnerable consumer groups; Or. en 50
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses the urgent need to increase the general standard of safety of consumer products inand the EU, as consumers are confronted daily with cocktails of chemicals which are carcinogenic or disruptive to the hormonal systemrespect of intellectual property rights in the EU, especially in the framework of the forthcoming revision of the General Product Safety Directive and market surveillance;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
69 21. Calls for targeted research funding in order to make for better consumer protection, given that project funding often does not cover the cost of scientific research; points out that, besides providing funding, it is also important to take into account the views of consumers and households in EU research programmefunding to be allocated to consumer research projects, especially in the field of consumer behaviour and data collection, to help design policies that answer the needs of consumers;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
71 22. Calls on the Commission to take decisions on matters such as the sale of goods and unfair contract terms, a review of the rules on unfair commercial practices (UCP)Urges Member States to fully and correctly implement the internal market rules and legislation, notably the Goods Package, the Consumer CreditRights Directive, misleading advertising, extending the scope of the Late Payment Directive20 to cover business-to-cthe E-Commerce Directive, the Food Information to Consumer res Regulations and the broader issue of whether the rules on UCP need to apply to business-to-business relationsUnfair Commercial Practices Directive;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Calls on the Commission to include a consumer affordability perspective in the Consumer Agenda and to stress the importance of a more social Europe where welfare services are financedsolidarity is one onf the basis of solidaritypillars;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Calls on the Commission to take into consideration the gender perspective in the Consumer Agenda, according to its commitment to the implementation of gender mainstreaming as an integral part of its policymaking; calls on the Commission to ensure that the Consumer Agenda excludes all discrimination based on sex in the access to and supply of goods and services;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Calls on the Commission to develop a common assessment and labelling system, as indicated in its resolution on a single market for enterprises and growth, based on the product's whole life cycle, particularly in order to simplify, harmonise and overcome the cost of fragmentation for business and consumers and avoid misleading advertising;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
81 25. Encourages the Commission to help the ECC-net and the CPC network to use all forms of media to make consumers more aware of their work and build up their capacity to communicate better with consumers and traderfurther support and communicate the roles of the European Consumer Centres (ECC-Net) which should play a central role in informing consumers of their rights and in supporting them in the event of a complaint; underlines the key role played by the Cross-border enforcement and cooperation Network (CPC network) in ensuring that consumer protection laws are correctly enforced and fostering cooperation between national competent authorities;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
82 25a. Calls on the Commission to use all powers under the Treaties to improve transposition, application and enforcement of all consumer-related EU legislations; calls on the Member States to step up their efforts in order to fully and correctly implement these legislations;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Stresses the need for the forthcoming Multiannual Financial Framework for the post-2013 period to be well funincluded and to take into account the ambitious aims set out in thedequate budgetary line for the goals set out in this report and in the forthcoming Consumer Agenda;