18 Amendments of Lara COMI related to 2009/2137(INI)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas an internal and service market that responds efficiently to consumer demands also helps to deliver a more innovative and healthy economy, given that efficient and responsive consumer markets across the economy are key drivers of competitiveness and citizens’ welfare, if accompanied by reasonable bureaucratic pressure on businesses,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas a well-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,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas consumers have a right to compensationmust be able to assert their rights when they are affected by illegal practices, but in practice they face substantial barriers in bringing such cases to court due to high costs, long and complex procedures and the risks associated with litigationwhether these are perpetrated by the private sector or the public authorities,
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises that consumers should be able to make informed choices, without being subject to psychological conditioning by producers making tendentious or untruthful claims about products, as this generates greater competition among traders to raise the quality of the goods and services they provide and to keep prices at competitive levels;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Reiterates that consumer organisations have a crucial role to play in alerting public authorities to the problems consumers experience in their daily lives and that they instruments at their disposal should be supportimproved in order to improve their capacity to act effectively at EU and national level; calls on Member States to ensure that consumer organisations are adequately consulted at all stages of decision-making process and in the implementation of consumer law;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen consumer awareness and education in order to empower consumers; encourages Member States to include consumer aspects in their national curricula to equip children with the necessary skills to take complex decisions later in lifeensure that clear and intelligible information is provided even to the very young, particularly for products and services aimed at them, so as to enable them to become informed consumers; recalls that educated consumers who are aware of their rights and know where to turn in the event of non-compliance are also important for detecting non-compliant behaviour;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Urges the Commission and the Member States to launch a well-targeted communication strategy in order to raise awareness amongst EU citizens of the risks of exposure and their rights as consumers, in particular by putting in place user- friendly web portals, awareness-raising campaigns and information points at local, regional and national level; stresses the need to use specific communication channels to reach the most vulnerable consumers, by ensuring the reliability, credibility and impartiality of the organisations responsible for the management and organisation of communications media;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Reaffirms that the Scoreboard is an important tool to better monitor the consumer markets with a view to providing information useful in ensuring better policymaking and regulation but also to demonstrate to citizens that their concerns are duly taken into account;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Welcomes the five main indicators in the Scoreboard - complaints, prices, satisfaction, switching and safety - which are crucialimportant in identifying which markets have the greatest risk of malfunctioning in terms of economic and social outcomes for consumers;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Acknowledges that, although the five indicators do not capture all aspects of the consumer environment, they provide a sufficient basis to set priorities and draw conclusions as to where further analysis is needed, provided that the information provided by Member States is comprehensive and can be compiled on an easily comparable basis;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Suggests that, in the future, the Commission develop indicators relating to market shares, quality, advertising, transparency and comparability of offers, as well as indicators related to enforcement (including data on inspections, non- compliance notifications, court cases), consumer empowerment (skills, assertiveness, education, information), coverage of consumer issues in the media, and indicators to measure redress and consumer detriment; believes that the new indicators should be included in the Scoreboard when a satisfactory level of development of the five basic indicators is reached; considers,
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Is aware that consumers are less satisfied and experience more problems with services than goods which partly reflects the greater complexity in the contractual relations and delivery of services compared to goods; calls on the Commission to carry out in-depth analyses of all problematic sectors such as energy, transport and banking services and make specific policy recommendations, in particular with a view to encouraging mobility among young people in Europe, by making it easier for them to use banking and transport services when they are studying or undertaking traineeships abroad;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Takes the view that the Scoreboard, once backed up by reliable and easily comparable data for the 27 Member States, should serve as a rich source of comparative data for national policymakers in competition, consumer and other policy areas and should help them indentify at national level the markets that do not function well for consumers;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Asks the Commission to develop, with the support of the Member States, a strategy to communicate the Scoreboard better to a wider audience, inter alia by ensuring that it is easily accessible and visible on relevant websites and to promote its proper dissemination to the media, national authorities, consumer organisations and other stakeholders; considers that it is necessary to continue the annual publication of the Scoreboard in a brochure and make it available in all official EU languages; calls on the Commission and Member States to take appropriate steps to promote the use by European citizens of the website ‘eYou Guide’, which was specially set up by the Commission as a guide to citizens’ rights;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
38. Encourages the establishmentcooperation in all Member States of independentbetween existing consumer protection agencies with full powerand associations to bring proceedings before national courts in order to protect the interests of consumers;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Shares the Commission’s view that alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation and arbitration or out-of- court settlements, can be an expedient and attractive option for consumers who have been unsuccessful in informally resolving their dispute with a trader; urges Member States to encourage the development of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to enhance the level of consumer protection and maximise compliance with legislation, but emphasises that such mechanisms should complement and not substitute judicial or administrative means of enforcement; considers also that the setting of fixed deadlines for replies from the various agencies and undertakings in respect of the various practices reported could provide an important basis for helping consumers who plan to take action to resolve a dispute;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
39. Shares the Commission’s view that alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation and arbitration or out-of- court settlements, can be an expedient and attractive option for consumers who have been unsuccessful in informally resolving their dispute with a trader; or a public authority, urges Member States to encourage the development of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to enhance the level of consumer protection and maximise compliance with legislation, but emphasises that such mechanisms should complement and not substitute judicial or administrative means of enforcement;