The Consumer Scoreboard, an annual survey of the EU Commission, shows where consumers see problems within the European Single Market.
E-commerce
This year's Scoreboard focused on the Digital Single Market, one of the priorities of the European Commission. The results show that the trust of EU citizens in cross-border e-commerce is little compared to national e-commerce. 38 percent buy products of traders from another EU Member State while 61 percent only order from national traders. Reasons for this are, on the one hand, concerns regarding shipment and product conformity and, on the other hand, price discriminations based on place of residence and territorial limitations.
Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality said: "The 2015 Consumer Scoreboard confirms that consumers do not yet fully trust cross-border e-commerce. One of the priorities of the Juncker Commission is to complete the Digital Single Market and unleash its full potential. This is why we have to lift the remaining barriers to cross-border e-commerce. By the end of the year, the Commission will propose new rules offering better access for consumers and businesses to digital goods and services across Europe."
Discriminations based on place of residence or nationality are violations of the EU Services Directive. For more information, please click here.
Consumer education
Another finding of the Scoreboard 2015 is that consumer are often unaware of their rights, especially young people.
This may be one reason why only few consumers file a complaint when confronted with problems. They don't believe in a success or think that it would take too long until their complaint shows any results. Furthermore, consumers are not aware of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) bodies which provide out-of-court services. However, the Scoreboard shows that those consumers who turned to an ADR body showed a high level of satisfaction.
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