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FAQ on the Open Public Consultation on the New Consumer Agenda

The European Commission launched on 30 June 2020 an EU-wide Open Public Consultation (OPC) on ‘the New Consumer Agenda’. The consultation, which is open until 6 October 2020, is an opportunity for stakeholders to provide input into the formulation of the new consumer policy framework for the forthcoming years.
 
The open public consultation includes questions on the Communication by the Commission on the New Consumer Agenda (planned for adoption in 2020) and three related initiatives on empowering consumers for green transition, and on the reviews of the Consumer Credit Directive and of the General Product Safety Directive (foreseen in 2021).

The questionnaire can be found at Consumer policy – the EU’s new ‘consumer agenda’

This Frequently Asked Questions aims at providing further clarification on the consultation based on questions from stakeholders addressed to the European Commission during the OPC and the answers provided by the European Commission. The FAQs is regularly up-dated.

For additional information on the individual policy initiatives underlying the OPC sections, here below the specific links to the roadmaps of the four initiatives where further background information on each of them can be found. These roadmaps are also open to stakeholder feedback (until 11 August for the New Consumer Agenda, and 1 September for the three other initiatives). Stakeholders can provide their comments on these roadmaps independently of their replies to the OPC which can be sent until 6 October.

General questions received

Why has the consultation been launched during the main holiday period?

The Commission realises that launching public consultations during summer holidays may cause challenges for some respondents. However, on one side, it was even less convenient to run it during the confinement period of the past few months; on the other side, delaying the consultation to Autumn would have not made it possible to reflect the answers and contributions to the consultation fully and appropriately in the upcoming policy initiatives, some of which will need to be finalised already in the last quarter of the year.
  
Moreover, it was decided to extend the consultation period beyond the usual 12 weeks so that the consultation will close only in the first week of October. We hope that this will allow everyone to adequately participate to the consultation.

Why do I need to use EU Login to access the consultation?

To avoid phishing, fake responses and misuse of the consultation tools, all contributors need to identify themselves by signing in with EU Login. After signing in contributors still have the option to remain anonymous. 

EU Login is the European Commission’s user authentication service. You can find out more information and get help regarding EU Login at https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/cas/help.html

Some of the answers in the questionnaire have a text limit, does this relate to characters or words? 

The text limit indicated for some answers refer to character limits with spaces. You will find that the shorter 150 character limit responses are mainly to specify your answer if you have selected the option "Other". Each character limit indicated is only for that specific field. The field also provides a character counter and will not let you input text beyond the limit.

Will these initiatives cover/be relevant for the chemicals/green chemistry sector?

The JUST initiatives focus mainly on B2C relations, not on B2B. However, as part of the supply chain of final consumer products, chemicals might also be covered by certain aspects of the new initiatives, in particular as regards consumer information obligations and the fight against greenwashing. Moreover, the evaluation of the General Product Safety Directive will also tackle the link between product safety and dangerous chemicals

Is it possible to submit a position paper or supplementary documents alongside the questionnaire?

It is possible to submit a position paper or supplementary documents alongside the questionnaire. Please send any ad-hoc contributions to JUST-consultation-CAatec [dot] europa [dot] eu (JUST-consultation-CA[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).

Can we request for our position paper not to be published?

In line with the principle of transparency, we publish all position papers we receive in “Have your say”.

You therefore have the following options:

  • anonymise the position paper and remove the problematic text from it;
  • send in no position paper and only answer the questionnaire.

Questions received on I. A New Consumer Agenda

Regarding question 7, what does the answer "Improved information on consumer rights in European SMEs and industry" mean?

Commission research shows that retailers in the EU lack knowledge of consumer rights. Just over half (55.2%) of the answers by retailers were correct when they were asked four questions on consumer rights in a 2018 survey (Retailers' attitudes towards cross-border trade and consumer protection (main report) - 2018).

The question therefore aims at finding out, whether the respondents think that information offers to SME and industry (one example: ConsumerLawReady), can contribute to improving the situation so consumers have a high level of protection online just as they do offline.

Questions received on II. Green transition

Will these initiatives cover/be relevant for the food sector?

They could cover/be relevant for the food sector, in particular when it comes to greenwashing and environmental or other sustainability claims, as well as the use of voluntary labels, logos and apps as information tools. Consumer law that might be up for a revision (e.g. UCPD) has a broad scope covering both products (including foodstuff and drinks) and services. However, some of the new provisions (such as on durability or obsolescence for instance) might not concern food. In such cases this is made clear in the recitals and certain product sectors of services can be excluded from the scope of certain chapters. 

If the Commission is considering an Ecolabel (or any type of environmental label) for food, would this be covered under any of the aforementioned initiatives?

There are currently two other initiatives that consider Ecolabels for food: the DG ENV Green Claims initiative and the DG SANTE Farm to Fork strategy. These DGs are better places to answer questions about possible policies for particular sectors such as food and drinks. The DG JUST sponsored initiatives are considering high level principles (e.g. for transparency, accountability) for labelling schemes, not individual Ecolabels.

As mentioned in the introduction of the section II, other future consultations will be launched on legislative proposals on substantiating green claims and legislative proposal for a sustainable product policy initiative. When will these consultations take place?

DG for Environment has already launched a public consultation on green claims. You can find online at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiativ…

Or direct link here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiativ…

Regarding question 5, can you provide further clarification on the answer "Providing a greater transparency and reliability for sustainability logos/labels"?

The Circular Economy Action Plan highlights that the Commission will be considering  setting minimum requirements on sustainability labels/logos.

Questions received on III. Consumer Credit Directive

No questions received so far on this section.

Questions received on IV. General Product Safety Directive

No questions received so far on this section.