PRESS RELEASE - 21.06.2016

The European Consumer Organisation and its Slovak member ZSS[1] met the Slovak First Secretary of State of the Ministry of the Economy, Mr Rastislav Chovanec, to present their expectations for the first ever Slovak EU Council Presidency.

There are three focal points. The first is on the Digital Single Market for which, the European Commission recently proposed new rules on the sale of digital services and goods online.

Consumers across the EU increasingly shop online but they still face obstacles when buying cross-border, and there are gaps in protection and legal uncertainties. The BEUC/ZSS delegation underlined that EU efforts to modernise consumer sales law should lead to more protection, not a weakening of long-standing consumer rights or different rights for the online and offline worlds.

The second focus is on proper enforcement of consumer rights. Giving European consumers new or improved rights is not worth much if these rights are not properly enforced. This requires stronger and more coordinated national enforcement authorities in each country.

The third focus is on energy, where the Commission is putting its Energy Union strategy into practice and will soon prepare new rules on the energy market’s design. These rules should offer transparent prices, sustainable choices, better control over energy consumption and bills, and fair access for consumers willing to invest in domestic renewable energy generation.

Örjan Brinkman, President of The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), commented:

“The Slovak Presidency will oversee European negotiations on a number of files that are highly important for consumers. Whether on enforcement of consumer rights, on digital services and legal guarantee rights or on energy, consumers want and expect real benefits from EU action.”

Miroslav Tulák, Head of the Association of Slovak Consumers ZSS, said:

“Enforcing consumer rights is the main priority for Slovak consumers and consumer organisations. We hope the Slovak EU Council Presidency will help raise awareness of the power consumers have in everyday life.”