Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-09-06-Speech-4-034"
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"en.20070906.2.4-034"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, congratulations on this initiative consisting of the Green Paper on the review of the acquis. I believe that if we want our fellow citizens to see the internal market not just as a threat, we need to ensure that consumers are properly protected, especially since the internal market applies to complex products: I am of course thinking in this respect of the financial markets. Every day current events provide us with examples, if any were needed, of the extent to which consumer protection poses a challenge in that area.
In that regard, I would like to return to what Commissioner McCreevy said yesterday: he gave the impression that if the American real estate market was in the state it was in, it was because the people taking out mortgages had no financial education. Financial education is very important, but it must not take the place of real consumer protection, incorporated in all of our laws. That requires horizontal legislation as well as sectoral laws. We must not substitute education for consumer protection and the liability of professionals when offering products that circulate freely in the internal market.
My second point relates to collective redress. I think that our rapporteur in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Mr Sánchez Presedo, will comment on this, but I believe that we have to make progress in this area. No one in Europe ever imagined that we wanted to import the American model, but there is a difference between the situation that exists today in the EU’s internal market and the situation in the US, and I trust you, Commissioner, to do this intelligently from a European perspective. Is it normal today to have no knowledge, no transparency of the complaints that are lodged, the fines that are applied? Let us have a transparent and open debate on the reality of what these class actions recover and let us provide European consumers with this useful tool!
If you do not mind, Madam President, I have one last comment. The clear definitions of ‘consumer’ and ‘professional’ proposed in the report are important but we must be careful not to cause confusion: in the area of financial services, for example, the idea that certain products can be reserved for professionals is an illusion that could reduce the guarantees offered to consumers. Sooner or later these goods move around the market and are offered to all consumers. As a result, we should have a definition but it should not be the be all and end all of consumer protection!"@en1
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