Consumer confidence is an essential ingredient for any market to flourish and thrive, be it national or cross-border, off-line or on-line. But in a market where consumers and suppliers may be separated by distance, language or tradition, instilling confidence in consumers is all the more important.

The EU is making determined efforts to develop a single market for consumers and business alike. This cannot succeed, however, unless the consumer feels confident when purchasing from outside his country. A comprehensive system of rules that defines the EU single market has been devised, which also sets out the framework within which it can function.

Nevertheless, the question remains as to whether consumers are getting the benefits that the single market should bring, namely a wider choice, better products and services and lower prices. This is still not very clear. What is clear, however, is that consumers are not prepared to make cross-border purchases to the extent that they are prepared to make domestic purchases. There are a variety of reasons for this. The fact that consumers feel “less protected” when purchasing from abroad is, in my opinion, one of these reasons.

Consumers’ knowledge of their right to protection within the single market remains very low and has not, in fact, shown any appreciable increase in recent years. Consumers who do not feel that the market offers them the best deal will not spend and consume as readily as they might. As a result of this lack of confidence, consumers fail to benefit, and business suffers in the market place, since this results in a loss of economic activity and reduced competitiveness. The fact that some businesses still do not have a customer-friendly approach does not help either. Firms should provide basic remedies such as refunds, without the need of any regulation. However, this is very often not the case.

A functioning cross-border market requires a level playing field. It requires a regulatory framework that is possibly the same across the European Union, so that consumers know what rights and protection they have, and businesses know what the rules of the game are. For confidence to be nurtured, this regulatory framework should set a high common level of protection. It also means that we have to make sure that the legislation that harmonises consumer protection is adequately enforced across borders, and equally, from member state to member state. Having said that, a proper regulatory framework is an essential element of consumer confidence, in order to increase business and to enhance competitiveness.

For a long time, internal market policy was focused on the relationships between businesses. It is obvious that the market, especially at retail level, relies heavily on consumers. It is therefore considered necessary that the internal market serves both the interests of consumers and business alike.

Consumer policy aims at empowering the individual consumer. An empowered consumer is an educated and informed consumer, who knows his rights and can exercise them. This depends not only on the individual’s initiative and dynamism but also on all national and public authorities in the various member states, as well as consumer organisations.

The EU has an important role in the promotion of consumer education and awareness relating to cross-border consumer questions, and to consumer rights granted through Community legislation. It was within this scenario that the European Consumer Centres have been specifically set up all over Europe in order to address the challenges posed by the internal market and to ensure an increase in consumer confidence when purchasing goods or services across borders.

European Consumer Centres were established to address any difficulties which may arise between a consumer and a trader when these are located in different member states. The centres are responsible for informing and assisting consumers who have questions relating to the purchase of goods and services across borders.

The EEc-net (European consumer Centre-Network) which now also includes what was formally known as the EEJ-net, is in charge of coordinating the “out of court” settlement procedures that are available to consumers throughout Europe and facilitating the resolution of cross-border consumer disputes. These are the proper tools which give consumers a more coherent set of services, ranging from information to assistance in the event of disputes.

Consumer protection legislation, based as much as possible on maximum harmonisation and proper enforcement, is the way to achieve greater consumer confidence and a more competitive internal market. It is for this reason that we have transposed EU legislation into our laws, thereby increasing competitiveness which is, after all, the main aim of the Lisbon Strategy.

I hope that local consumers will make use of the recently established European Consumer Centre in Malta, not only when they have a problem but also to seek information that will enable them to shop with more confidence both locally and abroad, fully aware of their rights and obligations.

Knowing our rights and obligations will, most probably, reduce the amount of litigation that we have to face.

Censu Galea is Competitiveness and Communications Minister