Hongaars voorzitterschap zet zich in voor versterking consumentenrechten (en)
“By reaching an agreement we can contribute to an effort of a wider scope aimed at reinforcing consumer rights” Minister of State for EU Affairs Eniko Gyori i said at the parliamentary debate about the draft Union directive on consumer rights on 23 March 2011. The EP will decide on the future of the draft on 24 March. The Parliament will also vote on the customs tariff preferences provided to developing countries.
Eniko Gyori said “The agreement will also reinforce consumers’ and business enterprises’ trust, in the internal market, which supports economic growth; and is also in harmony with the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.” Ms Gyori reminded that the Council adopted its preliminary position (general approach), on 24 January of this year.
The European Commission adopted its proposals on the amendment and consolidation of the four consumer protection directives, of the Union in October 2008. The purposal of change is to simplify the regulations, and to clarify contracting rights of consumers. It will also enable Member States, to adopt more stringent consumer protection rules, within the minimum scope of harmonisation rules.
At present, the European Parliament (EP) is discussing the legislative proposal in the first reading. The rapporteur of the EP is Andreas Schwab of Germany, member of the People’s Party Faction.
Balance between Union and Member States rules
In the series of discussions, which have taken place for more than two years, the main issue so far, has been to specify the ideal balance between the legislation of the Union and that of Member States, on the rights of consumers, and accordingly, the harmonisation aspects of consumer rights, the Minister of State for EU Affairs reminded. Ms Gyori added, since no agreement has been reached in over sixty meetings, on the parts regulating the sale and purchase of goods and unfair contractual conditions, the Council decided to remove them from the draft; and to focus instead on “Contracts concluded away from business premises” and “Contracts concluded from a distance.”
The aim is to reach a first reading agreement
“The Presidency is of the opinion that the EP could give a further impetus to the debate,” stated Ms Gyori. She added, if on the vote of 24 March, the EP refers the matter back to its own competent committee, “The Hungarian Presidency will make a committed effort to reach a first reading agreement. We will do our best to accomplish this aim.”
“We are ready to fully cooperate with the Parliament and the Commission, in order to be successful.” It is not certain that we will be fully satisfied with the outcome, but I am still convinced that we must not miss this opportunity, and must make an effort to ensure progress, wherever progress is possible,” the Minister of State stated.
Generalized tariff preferences
On 24 March, the EP will also vote on extending the current Union legislation, on general customs tariff preferences until the end of this year. Under the general preference system, industrialised states provide unilateral commercial benefits to developing countries. This is one of the most important tools of the Union for commercial and development policy, which generates revenues for the affected countries through international trade; thereby, contributing to the reduction of poverty.
In the Parliament debate of 23 March 2011, Ms Gyori said that the Council considers the importance of a timely adoption, of the proposed extension of legislation. By this, we could ensure that developing and least-developed countries could continue enjoying the benefits of EU commercial preferences.
The Minister of State added, the Council expects the Commission to submit its proposal on the comprehensive review of the generalised system of preferences. According to Ms Gyori, this will provide an opportunity for the adoption of an enhanced and updated system of preferences, which will take into account the critical remarks and aims, formulated by both EP representatives and Member States.
Refugee resettlement in Europe and WikiLeaks issue
Speaking on behalf of the Council at the plenary meeting in Parliament, Eniko Gyori answered questions by MEPs for oral answer. Concerning the amendment of the Council decision on establishing the European Refugee Fund, in light of the creation of the Joint EU Resettlement Programme, the Minister of State, expressed her deepest regret over the conflict of interpretation, between European Parliament and the Council regarding the amendment of the Refugee Fund. However, Member States would still have the possibility to re-settle refugees based on the existing regulations. Moreover, funds are already available for this purpose from the Refugee Fund. Eniko Gyori stressed that the Council and the Hungarian Presidency, were working hard to develop a common asylum policy. Earlier, the Council had welcomed the Commission’s related proposal and consulted several times the Parliament, during the first half of 2010.
The Council also received a question about the launch of USA investigations against the leaders of WikiLeaks, a non-profit organisation, designed to leak government information on the web, for publishing documents of US diplomacy. An American court has requested Twitter online messaging company to hand over the data of users who have read WikiLeaks documents. As per media reports, all 650,000 Twitter followers of WikiLeaks are now under the American government microscope. Eniko Gyori said it was groundless to conclude, that the US court violated the EU’s data protection regulations. She added that securing compliance with data protection rules is generally the competence of the Member States, which is why the Council is not required to make a stand on the Twitter case.