Today, 9th September I have published the results of a Europe-wide screening of websites selling the most popular electronic goods including digital cameras, mobile phones, personal music and DVD players, games consoles and computer equipment. This is one of the most important online shopping markets for consumers - worth € 7 billion a year. Particularly during the current crisis, as every Euro matters, consumers increasingly shop around and search the web to find the best deal. This is why we wanted to know if consumers are treated fairly by online traders in this field. The authorities of 28 countries (26 Member States plus Norway and Iceland) simultaneously checked almost 400 websites including both the biggest traders and those that have given rise to a high number of complaints.
The results …

The Annual conference of the European Policy Centre took place on 17th June and was dedicated to the state and future of the Union. The discussion between panellists and participants was lively and focused on many issues. These included the challenges ahead, how the Union can better connect to citizens, the competitiveness of the EU economy, climate change and many more. These are the key concerns of Europeans nowadays and such open discussions are useful to keep a finger on the pulse of society and to check the continued relevance of our actions and thoughts. It was interesting to note that the issue which kept coming up in comments made was the need to maintain the dominant position of the EU on the world stage. At the conference, Peter Sutherland, who is a former Commissioner and Director General of …

I recently gave a speech on the state of retail financial services and the problems that exist in that market for consumers -http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/kuneva/speeches_en.htm. Many consumers fail to understand complex financial products, and risk buying products which they do not need or cannot afford. Misleading recommendations by the bank of investments that are too risky for individuals are an example of this. Banking services are also plagued with fees and charges that are hidden from consumers at time of contract. People end up paying more than they should.  I am cooperating with my fellow Commissioner Charlie McCreevy to ensure new regulatory measures are taken to protect consumers in their financial dealings. I will insist that the follow up to the Communication on Packaged Retail Investment Products results in …

Last Saturday (2 May) I was in Bulgaria with my fellow Commissioner Viviane Reding. We made a presentation of our joint project the eYouGuide - the place where you can find all kind of good advice when surfing the Internet http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eyouguide/index_en.htm. I would really hope that more consumers will seek advice in this webpage. Now it is only in French, English, German and Bulgarian but soon we will translate it in more languages.
 
Let me also share with you another meeting that I had last Saturday in Sofia and this is with the participants in the TV show called “The Big Choice”. …

Just coming back from a very interesting discussion on the topic “Consumers in recession”, kindly organised by the European Policy Centre.  This was a dialogue, which on the one hand collected the views of few organisations at EU level - the European Regulators Group on Energy and Gas, the European Banking Federation, the Social Platform and Eurocoop. On the other hand, it gave me reassurances that our greatest challenge today is governance. Governance that is good, efficient, citizens’ oriented, with evidence and science - based decisions. A recent McKinsey Global institute study has made it clear that consumers are responding to the crisis by experimenting new retail channels, including Internet. The safety of services and on internet is focus of my future work. The need for better enforcement and communication was shared by all participants.