The world is changing fast. The green transition and digitalisation are trends that are having - and will have - a significant impact on consumers. BEUC is at the forefront of efforts to ensure consumers are front and centre in a greener and more digital Europe.
The EU’s flagship climate programme - the European Green Deal - will bring big changes for consumers, whether it is greener and more durable products or energy efficient home renovation. Consumer buy-in will be central to the Green Deal’s success and BEUC’s work is centred around ensuring the green transition is both affordable and accessible to all consumers.
The digitalisation of the economy is also posing challenges to consumer protection. BEUC is leading efforts to ensure that EU consumer law adequately protects consumers in today’s digital world, whether it’s protection from ‘dark patterns,’ unfair online advertising and privacy-intrusive profiling and personalisation, or when dealing with connected products.
Efforts to ensure consumer protection in the green and digital transitions go hand-in-hand with wider efforts to strengthen consumer rights, such as the right to meaningful information, protection against unfair terms and practices, or the right to remedy when things go wrong.
BEUC is also working to ensure passengers – across all modes of transport – and travellers enjoy strong and enforceable rights, including for multimodal journeys. BEUC will also ensure that passengers are protected against airline insolvency and that there is a review of pre-payment business models in the tourism sector, which have proved unsustainable in times of crisis.
