- “Price developments varied considerably across member states. For example, price increases for butter ranged from 8% in Denmark to 98% in Hungary during this period. And unlike energy prices, many food prices continue to stay high, well above average inflation. So inflation drops, but the food prices remain very high. So how to address this situation and this problem for consumers? First, as a good lawyer, I would say with legislation and the enforcement of this legislation, we have in the EU very good EU consumer law, very high standards and several tools to ensure that prices are transparent for consumers and easy to compare. In general, businesses must not mislead consumers about prices and display prices clearly, and businesses must be honest about their discounts and promotions. Our rules ensure that even if products differ in size, the consumer can compare their price because the unit price for goods needs to be displayed, for instance, the price per kilogram. This can help consumers detect shrinkflation, which is when a product remains the same in price and packaging, but the content is reduced. Our rules also ensure that when a good is on sale, meaning that there is an announcement by the trader of a price reduction for the good. Consumers can determine whether a discount is really interesting because the lowest price of the previous 30 days applied by the trader must be shown alongside the promotional price.”
EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “Now, let me say a few words on the, um, the crowdfunding that was raised by um. So, um, the current EU framework concerning crowdfunding platforms is um, first of all, the there is a specific regulation on crowdfunding platforms, uh, of the year, the the the regulation 2020 1503. That's a regulation Information on European crowdfunding services providers for businesses, but this regulation excludes from its scope crowdfunding services that are provided to consumers. So it's only business to business crowdfunding services. So this regulation doesn't apply. But the new CCD rules do apply to crowdfunding services, namely those that are directly provided where where credit is directly provided from crowdfunding platforms to consumers. And secondly, the CCD two also covers crowdfunding credit services, where the granting of credit between creditors and consumers is facilitated. So the CCD two already covers some forms of crowdfunding, Um, and of course, these rules on crowdfunding that are in the CD2 will be very closely monitored by us when we look at the transposition from by member states. The only thing that is not covered by the CD2 rules is peer to peer lending through crowdfunding platforms. So where consumers lend to each other, consumers to consumers via crowdfunding, this is not covered by the CCD and therefore this article 46 that was quoted uh asks the Commission for an assessment to determine whether further protections for consumers are needed on these peer to peer lending through crowdfunding platforms.”
Regulation of crypto · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “Thank you. Chair, if you allow there were many questions on legal aspects I would like to give the floor to our legal expert, Mr. Martin from the European Commission. Consumer legislation.”
EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “Thank you very much, chair. Honourable members, thank you very much for inviting the European Commission to exchange with you today on the rise of consumer prices in the single market. This is a topic of great concern to consumers, a topic that keeps people and consumers awake at night. It's also a very complex topic with various facets, and there is not one single easy solution that would make prices durably drop. So I will try to answer the question of this second panel on how to protect consumers and how to promote fair pricing practices. Having this in mind, there is no one silver bullet. Our most recent consumer condition survey, conducted across the 27 EU member states, plus Iceland and Norway, showed That the cost of living remains a major concern for consumers across all member states. Despite the slowdown in inflation in 2024, so 38% of consumers are worried about and faced difficulties to pay their bills at the end of the month. 35% of consumers said that they were not able to afford the food that they would like to buy. I would like this to sink in. 35% of European consumers say they cannot afford the foods, the food that they actually want to buy. So between January 21st and December 24th, prices of everyday food items have increased by roughly 32% in the European Union. Prices, for example, of olive oil, almost doubled across the EU and also other basic food items in our kitchen, such as bread, potatoes, rice, cheese had large increases above 30%.”
EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices
- “Thank you very much, chair, for your introduction. And thank you for the invitation on behalf of the European Commission, to present to you the results of the 2025 edition. Edition of the Consumer Condition Survey and Scoreboard. The Commission carries out this consumer survey every other year. We published the results of this year's edition In mid-March. And this survey and the survey results allow us to gain a better understanding of consumers in the European Union, of their needs, of their concerns, and thus the consumer survey and the scoreboard inform our policies for consumers. Um, and in the European Union. We have surveyed over 27,000 consumers in all our member states, as well as in Iceland and Norway. Um, and together with official statistics from Eurostat, for instance, and some of our administrative data that we gain from our activities, for instance, in the area of product safety, the consumer condition survey, um, give us, gives us quite a good picture of where we stand in terms of consumer needs, um, in the EU today. On the next slide, um, you can see a kind of summary of this year's results. So in a nutshell, we can summarize, we can say that EU consumers face economic and digital challenges despite high levels of trust. So consumers in the EU generally trust that their rights are upheld and that products products in the single market are safe. But, um, we also see that the way consumers shop in the single market is changing. And so there are new risks Arising.”
EU Single Market harmonisation · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards · Privacy & digital economy
- “So there are good rules that are in the EU, and we also coordinate the enforcement of these rules. For example, um, just as an example, in the ongoing CPC actions against Teemu and Shein, the issue of face fake discounts is also addressed, and our CPC network found that both Teemu and Shine show price reductions that are not based on the actual prior prices, so pretending to be offering better deals, or they are giving the false impression that products are offered without, sorry, offered with a discount when there is none. Besides legislation and enforcement. We can also try to get a very clear picture on how prices evolve. Um, and so I think it's very important that we continue to monitor price developments across the EU, spreading the knowledge about how prices develop and raising awareness. So we think that these are very important elements in combating and addressing these high prices, especially for food. This is also an activity that we foresee for the Ta in our upcoming, uh, consumer agenda that the Commission will bring forward at the end of this year. Maybe two more elements how to address high prices. Um, a third group of possible solutions relates to what our commissioner called unavoidable costs, such as costs of housing, energy, transport and food that consumers cannot really choose whether to pay or not.”
EU housing policy · EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices
- “You see, for instance, that the price of fresh fruits has increased by 30% since 2021. And on top of this graph, you can see that the price of olive oil, for instance, of butter of potatoes, has increased by more than 50% since 2021. Most consumers in all member states and this is what you see on the right hand side graph. Most consumers in all member states have noticed that packaged goods they regularly buy have reduced in size without a decrease in price. On the next slide, we turn to a new subject, which is e-commerce and digitalization. And on this slide, you can see how e-commerce has increased and especially cross-border e-commerce. You see, for example, that on the left hand graph that today in the EU, a total of 76% of consumers shop online. That's a quite, quite an impressive number. Not surprisingly, younger consumers shop even more online about 86%. But also the elder elderly consumers or older consumers, 65 plus consumers. There is a share of 60% of them who also shop online. So online shopping. E-commerce is really very widespread. Interestingly, more than a third of consumers bought online from another EU country and over a quarter of consumers bought online from outside of the EU. The downside of this expansion of e-commerce and online shopping is that consumers who buy online continue to be more likely to experience problems with their purchases than those that shop in normal brick and mortar stores. On the next slide, you see, we we look, we continue to look at at online practices and we see that almost all online shoppers have concerns.”
Geo-blocking · EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “Increasingly, consumers purchase goods and services online and across borders, experiencing more frequent problems and new threats. For instance, consumers are concerned about online targeted advertising as well as they also encounter online scams. And we also see that despite recent reductions in the rate of inflation, there are economic pressures on consumers and these economic pressures shape consumers concern and behavior reducing, for instance, the focus on sustainable consumption. On the next slide, you see how the cost of living continues to affect consumer confidence despite lower inflation. On the left hand graph you see in blue the inflation rate and that is uh, that is um, slowing down. Clearly the red hand, the red color shows you consumer confidence, which is measured by a composite index. And there you see that consumer confidence has not bounced back to pre-COVID levels. So consumer confidence in the EU is quite is quite low and remains low. And this is a reason of concern for us. Um, so this cost of living continues to wait on consumer sentiment. For instance, 38% of European consumers are concerned about being able to pay their bills. 38%. This is quite a high number. And 35% of European consumers worry about affording food products that they like. The next slide provides more information about the evolution of prices. We can see that everyday goods are now significantly more expensive, while many consumers experience shrinking products, so shrinking products in size. On the left hand side, you see the evolution of prices for some very basic Seek food products.”
EU competences on consumer protection and product standards · Privacy & digital economy
- “Yes. Thanks a lot. Your comments are well noted. Um, well, the the transposition period was the 20th of November, so it's relatively recent. Um, it's true that, uh, with the three notifications only, that's not a lot, but we've worked very actively with the member states throughout the whole transposition period, and we are relatively optimistic to get more transposition measured measures notified in the near future. There were a lot of changes in government that always slows in many member states. That always slows down the transposition process. But we worked really very actively with the member states during this transposition period. And so, um, of course, we will be very firm to monitor and to make sure we get the transposition measures soon, but I would not be too pessimistic about that.”
EU Single Market harmonisation
- “Um, thank you very much, chair. Good morning, honourable members and dear Mr. Konecna, uh, even if AFA, um, I'm very pleased to be here today, and I hope I have a few minutes to explain some background on our work on the transposition of the consumer credit directive, on which, um, The honourable member was the rapporteur. So the new Consumer Credit Directive, as we call it, the CD2, was adopted in October 2003 to strengthen the EU framework for consumer credit and to improve consumer protection. The member states had time until the 20th of November 25 to transpose the new directive into national law, and the new rules will apply from the 20th November 2026. So in a year's time, um, I would like to say a few words about how we work with the member states and with our other stakeholders on the transposition. And then I will try to answer the questions raised by Mrs. Konecna. So just after the adoption of the new CCD, uh, We held two large information sessions, one for stakeholders. That means banking representatives, representatives of the financial industry, NGOs who are specialized consumer consumer organizations. So we had a big workshop held already in November 2023 with over 150 participants connected. We also held, just after the adoption of the directive, a big workshop with the member States to inform them about the new rules and about and to engage in a discussion with them on the transposition. Um, since these two workshops, we also held two targeted transposition workshops with member states, um, that were all the three.”
EU Single Market harmonisation · Financial regulation · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “So the total number of consumers who raise concerns about online shopping is very high. It's 93%. For instance, two thirds of online shoppers encountered fake reviews and also two thirds noticed suspiciously large discounts, while more than 40% faced confusing or biased information when they bought online. The next slide is about online fraud. This touches almost half of EU consumers, with the threats from new technologies becoming very apparent. So a total of 45% of consumers reported encountering fraudulent practices online, and the most frequent of these fraudulent practices were requests for money to alleviate financial hardship and phishing for personal information. With the next slide, we change subjects and we look at sustainable consumption. Sustainable consumption, to our regret is in decline. Um, this is something we see quite clearly from this year's survey, with costs of sustainable products and clarity about environmental claims as key barriers to consume more sustainably. So we asked consumers whether. Environmental impacts. The environmental impact of products influenced their purchasing choices. And 43% of consumers answered that. Indeed, they have factored in environmental impact of their purchases. But this is 13 percentage points less than in 2022. So this is a clear decline. And the most frequent barriers again, to sustainable consumption are related to the costs of sustainable products that are often more expensive than regular ones. And the second factor is the clarity the lack lack of clarity and trustworthiness of product information.”
Green claims · EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “Thank you very much for your questions and your comments. I'll start in the order the questions were put to us. So first, the question of Mr. Guzzi. Thank you very much. You asked about the online, online, online shopping, e-commerce and whether the problems encountered and reflected in our survey were connected to weak implementation of existing rules. And you asked a similar question about sustainable consumption. Um, for online shopping and e-commerce. You you are probably aware that the European Commission recently carried out a digital fairness fitness check to, um, to assess whether the existing consumer rules in the European Union were fit for purpose in the digital age. And um, in the Results published of this fitness check, we came to the conclusion. The European Commission came to the conclusion that although the microphone.”
EU competences on consumer protection and product standards · EU rules on digital competition · Privacy & digital economy
- “Okay. Sorry. Um, so we came to the conclusion in our digital fairness fitness check that, um, although we have quite a good set of rules for, um, consumers and citizens in the digital age, there might be some, um, practices such as dark patterns, um, unjustified personal advertisement on online and other practices that are happening, uh, to the detriment of consumers. And that might, um. That for these kind of practices identified in the digital fairness fitness check, our legislation might not be sufficiently. Strong to address these problems. So we think that we have good legislation, inter alia, with the Digital Services Act. But there might be some gaps and the Commission is presently working on following up on the on the fitness check it has carried out and for which the results are published on sustainable consumption. Um, why is it declining? We think it's a it's a mixture. I think that the cost of living is a factor is an important factor. I think, um, consumers either perceive sustainable products as is more expensive than regular ones. Um, or they are really more expensive. And in the current situation, in the current economic situation of many consumers, they just have difficulties to afford these sustainable products. We also think that there's quite a lot of confusion about, um, labels, sustainability labels, green labels that it's not very clear what is really sustainable, what can, you know, consumers, what can they trust, what kind of labels and what can't they trust? And um, in this connection, you mentioned the green um, claims directive.”
Green claims · EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices · Privacy & digital economy
- “So we think that the cost of living is a concern remains a concern. And we would like to address that with our policies. Um, for instance, we are planning to put forward very soon the Consumer Agenda 2030 and an action plan for consumers in the single market. We would also like to address this issue of the cost of living. And I'm glad that I can inform you that we, um, launched the public consultation for this new consumer agenda 2030 just today. Um, it will be open, and we hope that many stakeholders in all member states participate in this public consultation. You asked about country specific, age specific. And um, yeah, generally, yeah. Age specific information in our survey and um, um, generally about, um, differences in the outcomes according to social groups. Yes. There are some notable differences. Um, I mentioned one which is, uh, young consumers, for instance, that they shop more online than older ones, but that also older, uh, Europeans shop quite a lot online. We also see gender differences. Uh, our data is disaggregated by, um, by gender.”
EU Single Market harmonisation · EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “We see quite a lot of differences here with the women in general being more conscious of sustainability aspects when they, um, take purchasing decisions. Um. Yeah. So, so quite interesting. And the Country. Specific differences are reflected in some of the graphs I showed you. So we have, of course, large differences, quite large differences between member states. Um. But um, on the main questions I would say, um, the, the EU average reflects, um, I would say a main tendency and a main trend. Now to the question of Miss Valean, thank you very much for that. Um, you asked about the repair footprint, whether we look at that, the the ecological footprint of repair. Um, I don't think we look at that, especially not in the survey where we, we, um, um, survey consumer. So we interview consumers. Um, same with um, the your question about national authorities, whether um, well that it's for the national authorities to check, um, phenomenon like like shrinkflation nationally. You're absolutely right. But this is not something that we, uh, that we interview consumers on when we do this survey. Um, last question was, uh, from you chair on the number of consumer surveys and, um, also about some of the technical aspects of our survey, maybe my colleague Michael Michael Jacobs would like to answer that.”
Ecodesign & durability · Reparability of products · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “Thank you. So from our. Indeed. You just. I take care of the consumer side of things. And I completely appreciate your support on the reform for the CPC regulation. It's absolutely crucial that we explain that we are in undergoing investigations and we're limited. But, um, uh, my teams are very committed to doing what they can with what they have. We work very well with CC or um, who was very active in this area, as I've already explained, and we are calling for a CPC regulation reform. I have heard and taken note of your comments on the DFA. We are looking into that with DG connect colleagues and I can see the important points on improving the situation, but that's a revision that we have scheduled for next year. Thank you.”
EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices · EU rules on late commercial payments · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “So here we would like we we are supporting the Commission's overall of efforts to contribute to curbing these unavoidable costs in the area of energy transport. Um, and maybe in the discussion that will follow, I can develop a bit more what we are trying to do. And last point and I will close with that. Um, I think we should also protect consumers struggling with the cost of living from the risks of over indebtedness by informing them effectively and building specific safeguards into our sectoral legislations. For instance, in the new Consumer Credit Directive that this committee knows very well, we have captured new credit products that make it terribly easy for consumers to buy more than they might be able to afford. And we have now rules in place that make sure that consumers are aware of the costs they face when they take out consumer credits. So to close, I've tried to give very quickly some elements for a solution to a very stubborn and difficult issue of the persistently high prices for food and basic consumer goods and services. First legislation and its enforcement. Second, consistent monitoring of price developments. Third, reducing unavoidable costs. And fourthly, sensitizing consumers and protecting them against pitfalls. And I think that policymakers must work hand in hand to understand the underlying reasons. And thank you. So thank you very much to.”
EU approach to electricity market and prices · EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “On the next slide, we look at Get repair. Um, consumers still prefer to replace defective products with new ones instead of repairing them. So when dealing with defective products, 40% of consumers replace them with new ones and 35% repair them, 9% opt for buying a second hand and a refurbished or refurbished product as a replacement. So key barriers for repair are again high repair costs and also the effort required to find repair shops, etc.. Um, so this um, with this slide, this slide brings me already at the end of this short overview over the Results of our consumer of our Consumer Survey 2025 edition. Everything. All the data, the summary report, infographics are published on the Commission's website. Um, so what conclusions for our policies here? I would like to quote our commissioner, Commissioner McGrath, responsible for consumer protection. When he presented the survey this year, he said that the conclusion we must draw is that we need ambitious policies to protect consumers, both offline and online. We also must focus on implementation and enforcement of the good consumer legislation we have in the European. We are privileged to have in the European Union, and we should also address gaps to improve digital fairness for consumers. And Commissioner McGrath also emphasized that especially in these uncertain times, consumer policy has a role to play, to improve people's lives and to contribute to economic growth. And so with this, I would like to stop here, and I'm looking forward to your questions and comments. Thank you.”
Ecodesign & durability · Circular economy · Reparability of products
- “Uh, excuse me. So, yeah, I think there were two questions. One was about the the survey itself. And then there was the question about the inflation and where that data comes from. So for the survey, we we collect data from all member states within the EU plus Iceland and Norway. Um, then that data is aggregated using uh, statistical weighting so that the the results we have for the EU represent the populations in each of those countries correctly. Um, so we collect data from approximately 1000 consumers in each country, with the exception of Malta and Luxembourg and also Cyprus. Um, for the the data that we had on the specific differences in inflation for specific items. So olive oil almost doubling for example across the EU. That's data that's published on a monthly basis by Eurostat. And the information itself is collected by member states. So that's publicly available data that we've re analysed and republished. Thank you.”
Food waste · EU competences on consumer protection and product standards
- “I would like to mention the empowering consumers in the green transition directive that is already adopted, to which you contributed also to this adoption. And we are working very actively with the member States. Now towards the transposition of this directive, that should take well, the directive should be transposed until the end of this year, and we hope that this empowering consumers in the Green Transition Directive will be a first important step to provide a general general rules making green information more reliable to consumers. And, um, this is then to be complemented by the Green Claims Directive. But we think that empowering consumers is a first, very important step to provide a general safety net and a general rule on the reliability of green information. Um, the the second group of questions from, um, Mr. Grossman, thank you very much. We fully agree with you that consumers trust is an essential ingredient of a functioning single market. We think that consumers trust is very important. For um, yeah, to to make the single market function, to achieve the competitiveness we are all working towards. And um, we think that the problems linked to Shrinkflation that you mentioned, yes, are very much, um, um, a concern to us, um, and um, and can represent a problem in, in the single market and can diminish trust of consumers in, in the single market and in economic life more generally.”
Green claims · EU Single Market harmonisation · EU restrictions on unfair commercial practices