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Passenger rights under threat: Member States must urgently fix EU proposals

As negotiations on the reform of passenger rights move full steam ahead, BEUC warns that this legislative train is dangerously off track. The...

Sustainable mobility Transport and passenger rights
Airlines greenwashing: what solutions?

If you’ve been browsing for plane tickets recently, you surely have come across a flurry of claims praising how sustainable flying is. “Compensate...

Unfair commercial practices Consumer information Enforcement
EU tariffs on Chinese electric cars must ultimately lead to more competitive and affordable market for consumers

Today the European Commission has imposed tariffs of up to 38% on imports of Chinese electric vehicles into the EU. For the European Consumer...

Sustainable mobility Competition and sustainability Customs
Dieselgate: Volkswagen agrees to compensate Italian consumers

Italian owners of Volkswagen cars fitted with defeat devices will finally get compensation. This is the outcome of a settlement agreed between BEUC’s...

Sustainable mobility Enforcement
European authorities acknowledge airlines’ greenwashing denounced by consumer groups

Today, the network of EU consumer protection authorities has announced that many airlines operating in the EU have misled consumers about the...

Sustainable mobility Enforcement Transport and passenger rights
Topics
Ecodesign & Energy label
EU Ecolabel
European Green Deal
Sustainable mobility
Consumer groups welcome new EU consumer policy strategy for the next five years
Consumer groups welcome new EU consumer policy strategy for the next five years
- PDF Document - 140.4 KB

Consumer policy
Enforcement
Available in English
Today the European Commission adopted the “Consumer Agenda”, its consumer policy strategy for the next five years. It lays down the Commission’s consumer policy objectives and will serve as guidance to include consumer interests in all policy areas. Focus areas are the green and digital transition as well as the post-COVID economic recovery.
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Five years after Dieselgate scandal, Volkswagen still failing to compensate European consumers
Five years after Dieselgate scandal, Volkswagen still failing to compensate European consumers
- PDF Document - 88.51 KB

Collective redress
Sustainable mobility
Available in English
A report from The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) released five years after the Dieselgate scandal finds that VW is continuing its stalling tactics, exploiting legal loopholes and taking advantage of the uneven access to justice of European consumers. In short, the report confirms that VW is doing everything to avoid compensation payments to EU consumers – while paying out $9.5 billion in compensation to defrauded US car owners just months after the scandal broke. It also highlights that Europe’s legal systems lack the necessary tools to tackle mass claims.
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Consumers are increasingly willing to buy sustainable products, especially energy-efficient ones, in order to minimise their impact on the environment. All too often though, confusing information and a great variety of industry claims make this difficult. What makes it even more complicated is the lack of enough sustainable products in EU shops and that they are barely identifiable.

  • Improve the sustainability of products by reducing their impact on the environment
  • Give consumers the possibility to make informed and sustainable choices between different products using independent and verified labels (such as the Ecolabel). Unsustainable products to be taken off the market
  • Reduce the carbon footprint of transport in Europe while ensuring consumers benefit from improved information and cost reductions