Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-05-04-Speech-1-218"
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"Mr President, I know Commissioner Kuneva is here, and I very much welcome the opportunity at this last session of Parliament’s mandate – even at this very late hour – to have an exchange of views on the Commission’s consumer rights proposal.
In short, we would like the Commission to take some time in the intervening election period before Parliament is reconstituted in July to undertake the following work (this is all contained in the Oral Question): an analysis of the practical and legal implications of the proposal on consumer rights in each Member State; a clarification of the relationship between the fully harmonised provisions in the directive and the general remedies available in national contract law; a clarification of the interplay of the draft proposal with existing Community legislation, in particular the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, E-Commerce Directive, Services Directive, the Rome I Regulation and, of course, the proposed CFR. We want some further evidence in the impact assessment to help us analyse and demonstrate the benefits and costs of this proposal and any alternative approaches that could be put forward.
We want you to help us, and we will work with you, to ensure that we support a dialogue between stakeholders on what measures are necessary to bring mutual practical benefits for business and consumers alike.
Commissioner, I believe it is possible to produce a workable practical proposal that is supported by all stakeholders. I pledge to you that the Members of this House wish to continue to work with you to ensure that we deliver that, and that we can at some point in time vote through this Parliament a new consumer rights directive.
We have produced a working document and you will recall that the IMCO Committee working group, led by myself as chair and rapporteur, made a decision not to rush this proposal without taking full consideration of all its implications, in particular since it has been described as the most far-reaching change in approach to consumer law in Europe.
The committee, I believe, has very diligently carried out its work with a public hearing, several exchanges of views, a presentation suggested by Mr Harbour on the impact assessment, and an online consultation with has received around 100 responses from organisations across Europe in just three weeks.
We also held an exchange of views with representatives from the 27 national parliaments to which the Commissioner was also invited. Commissioner, I know that you and your staff are fully aware that this is a controversial proposal that merits further examination in a number of areas.
We appreciate the drive to improve consumers’ rights in the internal market. We also agree that there is a need to improve the functioning of the business-to-consumer internal market by removing barriers to cross-border trade, but there is also a need to reassure our consumers that they can continue to expect a high level of protection.
During our deliberations, debate and consultations with stakeholders, we received numerous representations concerned about the lack of clarity and certainty in this proposal. We encouraged consumer organisations and business stakeholders to initiate their own dialogue on how we can make this proposal work, and I know that the Commissioner has received a jointly drafted letter from business and consumer organisations which has been copied to all MEPs. I would like to quote from that. They say, ‘we attach great importance to the legal clarity and quality of the proposal, as well as to the need to know what consequences and changes it would bring about compared with the current situation. We believe there is a high degree of uncertainty about the scope and the consequences of this proposal in particular in relation to its impact on national legal orders.’
Their concerns are clear. We need to be clear in our final proposal. Are we asking consumers to give up some of the rights they have under national law? If so, what does the consumer get in return? And if we are not asking them to surrender certain contract law rights, such as the right to reject in UK and Irish law, then is business still not faced with 27 different sets of consumer rules, the abolition of which was a key objective in the first place?
My colleagues and I believe that our first priority is to evaluate what this proposal will do for consumers and business in real practical terms. That is why tonight’s oral questions identify some key issues that we would like to work with you on, and that we need to make sure are addressed, in order to produce a workable set of rules that benefit all stakeholders. Our questions therefore focus on the details of specific areas where we would like to see further work.
Some members of the working group were concerned at perceived flaws in the impact assessment and want to see more evidence of the costs of legal fragmentation if we do not act. They also want more information on the economic impact of the proposal, not only on the impact of the information requirements."@en1
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