Throughout 2023, the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) resolved 60% of the complaints received. Among the cases handled by the network, the most prominent issues are related to the right of withdrawal or warranty, as well as flight cancellations, lost shipments of goods or travellers' rights in case of natural disasters. In all cases, consumers were assisted by specialised lawyers from 29 EU countries who did their utmost to try to reach an out-of-court settlement in favour of the consumer.
As a result of this work, consumers received refunds totalling almost nine million euros last year. In addition, ECC-Net helped consumers to avoid overpriced contracts or managed to protect them against scams and misleading products. Equally, the expertise of ECC-Net, together with all the information generated by the processing of complaints, makes ECC-Net a privileged European institution to provide recommendations to improve the protection of all consumers in the European Union.
ECC-Net, with a focus on defending consumer rights
Thanks to its extensive experience, the ECC-Net network has an in-depth knowledge of the problems faced by consumers in Europe. It also has a team of lawyers specialised in consumer law in each of the countries where the network is present. ECC-Net is therefore a valuable source of information for public authorities, consumer organisations and the media, both at European and national level.
Among the sectors that generate the most enquiries, the air transport sector stands out. Last year, the network received 22,000 enquiries on air passenger rights. For this reason, ECC-Net wants to highlight the different level of protection offered to travellers depending on whether the travel services contracted are part of a package travel or not. In this respect, the network warns that, in the event of insolvency, the user is protected by insurance only if it is a "package travel". The network therefore calls for better protection for all travellers in such cases. At the same time, the network believes that the rules on air passenger rights need to be revised to provide greater clarity and better protection for consumers.
As for the publication of documents in 2023, it highlights the publication of a position paper on the EU's planned right of repair in 2023. In it, the network calls for better protection against planned obsolescence and clear information on repair options. The network also participated in a large number of conferences and workshops where it shared its expertise on consumer issues.
All the information on the activities carried out by the European Consumer Centres Network in 2023 can be found here.
About ECC-Net.
The ECC-Net (European Consumer Centre-Network) is made up of the European Consumer Centres in the EU, Iceland and Norway. Since its creation in 2005, each of these Centres has been providing free, personalised information, assistance and advice to domestic consumers who have problems with purchases performed in another ECC-Net country, as well as in the UK. Their aim is to help citizens understand their rights as consumers and to help them enjoy all the benefits of the Single Market. The European Consumer Centre in Spain (ECC-Spain) is a public service co-funded by the European Union and the Ministry for Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 and is part of the ECC-Net network
Source of information: ECC-Net.