With the support of The European Commission
DG Health and Consumer Protection

This was one of the findings of a major european seminar organised by EURO COOP last Friday in Brussels where almost 100 representatives of consumers, business, the EU institutions and other stakeholders gathered to discuss the new trend of Maximum Harmonisation of EU consumer legislation. Summing-up the debates, EURO COOP Secretary General Dónal Walshe said "Maximum Harmonisation can in principle deliver consumer benefits, but the devil is in the detail: the aim of increased consumer protection via maximum harmonisation of consumer credit legislation for example is very much a test case - in the view of EURO COOP, there remain shortcomings in the current Commission Proposal for a Directive which need to be addressed; in the case of Services of General Interest, it is clear that harmonisation is needed to establish common principles to ensure that all consumers and users across Europe have easy access to high quality SGIs at affordable prices; Maximum harmonisation in the area of Unfair Commercial Practices can work in principle, but needs to be backed-up by strong, independent enforcement and redress procedures. Codes of Conduct can be a useful supplementary tool in that they can react to rapidly changing markets, but they too must be backed-up by strong enforcement and redress procedures".

The Seminar was held to discuss the Principle of Maximum Harmonisation of Consumer Legislation and whether it is good for consumers. EU consumer legislation is increasingly based on this Principle, yet some consumers are concerned that maximum harmonisation could in reality result in lower levels of protection. At the event, three Round Tables looked at:

• Consumer credit
• Unfair commercial practices and codes of conduct
• Services of general interest

Speakers included representatives of EURO COOP, the European Commission, European Economic and Social Committee, ISUPE, European Banking Federation, UNICE and BEUC.