Consumer rights

Follow related Publications Contact us
Topics
Legal guarantee rights
Product liability
Product safety
Transport and passenger rights
Unfair commercial practices
Unfair contract terms
People waiting in airport terminal
Press releases
Spain fines four airlines for hand luggage policies: an important step for consumers
- PDF Document - 115.85 KB

Transport and passenger rights
Available in English
Today, the Spanish Ministry for Social Rights, Consumers and the 2030 Agenda has fined four airlines (Ryanair, Vueling, Easyjet and Volotea) for abusive practices including unfair pricing for hand luggage for a total amount of €150m. BEUC supports this decision, as consumers are frequently confused and angered by the different and opaque pricing approaches of airlines. It is one of the first times that a 2014 European Court of Justice ruling, stipulating hand luggage cannot be subject to additional charges as long it meets reasonable weight and size requirements, is being applied. However, it also shows consumer-friendly, EU standards on hand luggage are needed.
Read more
logo VW on a wheel
Press releases
Dieselgate: Volkswagen agrees to compensate Italian consumers
- PDF Document - 105.66 KB

Sustainable mobility
Enforcement
Available in English
Italian owners of Volkswagen cars fitted with defeat devices will finally get compensation. This is the outcome of a settlement agreed between BEUC’s Italian member Altroconsumo and Volkswagen, in the Italian Dieselgate case initiated in 2015. Volkswagen agreed to compensate 60,000 consumers for a total amount of €50 million.
Read more
Green flying visual
Press releases
European authorities acknowledge airlines’ greenwashing denounced by consumer groups
- PDF Document - 199.59 KB

Sustainable mobility
Enforcement
Transport and passenger rights
Available in English
Today, the network of EU consumer protection authorities has announced that many airlines operating in the EU have misled consumers about the sustainability of their activities. They call on companies to abide by the rules. This announcement is a follow-up to the complaint the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) launched in June 2023 together with member organisations from 19 countries.
Read more
Revision of passenger rights regulations
Position papers
Revision of passenger rights regulations
- PDF Document - 667.57 KB

Transport and passenger rights
Available in English
Passenger rights are a major achievement of the European Union, as they create common and harmonised rules guaranteeing strong rights for travellers. EU Passenger Rights covering all modes apply to more than 13 billion consumers every year . However, travel markets have evolved with the arrival of new actors such as online booking intermediaries. Recent times have highlighted shortcomings of current Passenger Rights regulations, most notably lax enforcement. The COVID-19 pandemic has also revealed legal gaps between traveller rights instruments, more specifically in the Passenger Rights Regulations and the Package Travel Directive , and the urgent need for reform. Lessons from the pandemic must be learnt to ensure that the EU better protects passengers and their rights and introduces greater fairness in the tourism value chain.
Read more

The world is changing fast. The green transition and digitalisation are trends that are having - and will have - a significant impact on consumers. BEUC is at the forefront of efforts to ensure consumers are front and centre in a greener and more digital Europe.

The EU’s flagship climate programme - the European Green Deal - will bring big changes for consumers, whether it is greener and more durable products or energy efficient home renovation. Consumer buy-in will be central to the Green Deal’s success and BEUC’s work is centred around ensuring the green transition is both affordable and accessible to all consumers. 

The digitalisation of the economy is also posing challenges to consumer protection. BEUC is leading efforts to ensure that EU consumer law adequately protects consumers in today’s digital world, whether it’s protection from ‘dark patterns,’ unfair online advertising and privacy-intrusive profiling and personalisation, or when dealing with connected products.

Efforts to ensure consumer protection in the green and digital transitions go hand-in-hand with wider efforts to strengthen consumer rights, such as the right to meaningful information, protection against unfair terms and practices, or the right to remedy when things go wrong.

BEUC is also working to ensure passengers – across all modes of transport – and travellers enjoy strong and enforceable rights, including for multimodal journeys. BEUC will also ensure that passengers are protected against airline insolvency and that there is a review of pre-payment business models in the tourism sector, which have proved unsustainable in times of crisis.

  • Continue to update and modernise EU consumer law as society becomes increasingly digitalised:
    • Meet challenges of consumer protection by strengthening consumer rights, such as the rights to receive correct information, to not be misled, to be protected against unfair terms and unfair practices, or to have remedies available in case of faulty goods
    • Consumers should have effective remedies available if traders breach EU consumer law
  • EU air passenger rights legislation improved and completed. Legislation must be better enforced to ensure the difficulties consumers face when travelling by air are reduced
  • Defend the consumer voice during the EU’s fitness check of consumer law (REFIT)

  • Make sure consumers are protected when it comes to who is liable for a defective product