Month: October 2016
Lisa’s story and the price of anti-cancer drugs
The child of a dear friend of mine, whose name is Lisa, unfortunately developed cancer when she was only 4. She is now 8 and has received the all-clear from the doctors. She was one of the lucky children who...
Why privacy safeguards in trade deals need urgent improvement
The EU and 22 other countries are closing in on a huge deal to liberalise trade in services. One of the few pending issues in this Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) is the question of how to make sure trade...
Fuzzy maths or how the Commission solves ‘costly’ chemicals laws
The European Commission is running EU chemicals laws through its REFIT machine. REFIT sounds like a strenuous fitness regime for overweight risk managers, right!? It’s not. Instead, it is a Commission programme that looks to streamline EU laws – a...
Paying abroad may be costing you more than it should
You’ve probably never heard of the term ‘dynamic currency conversion’. But you’ve probably done it on holiday or on a business trip. And it’s most likely cost you money. Dynamic currency conversion is a service merchants offer consumers when they...
The consumer-policy nuts and bolts of the sharing economy
The sharing economy is a phenomenon which profoundly changes the way consumers buy or rent goods and services. It also allows consumers to enter the market to provide goods, services, time or skills themselves and become – what we call...
Big data, smart enforcement
Last week I spoke at a conference which was jointly organised by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and BEUC. Its motto hit the nail on the head: how can privacy rights be enforced in an era where big data...