CONSUMER POLICY

On 9 and 10 June Commissioner Neven Mimica visited Bulgaria in an effort to further empower consumers in the country. During his mission, the Commissioner liaised with national authorities, consumer organisations and the public to discuss how to improve Bulgarian's consumer culture. He also launched a Consumer rights campaign to enhance people's awareness of their rights under Europe's new Consumer Rights Directive.

The message at the heart of the mission was that for consumer rights legislation to deliver its full benefits, consumers have to know what their rights are and go after them in their everyday lives. In an attempt to contribute to the achievement of the objective, Commissioner Mimica launched an European Commission information campaign aimed to raise Bulgarian citizens' awareness of their rights as consumers and to encourage them to actively use them in practice.

Neven Mimica said: Every European should be able to feel equally confident and protected regardless of which EU country they live in, travel to or choose to shop from, both online and offline. I have come to Bulgaria to make sure Bulgarians make no exception. The information campaign I am launching today is aimed to make people better aware of their rights and encourage them to go after the protection they are entitled to.

To enhance the cooperation between Bulgarian authorities and the European Commission in the field of consumer rights enforcement and promotion, Commissioner Mimica had discussions with Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, representatives of the Ministry of Economy, and the country's main consumer protection bodies, including the Commission for Consumer Protection. He also met with representatives of the key consumer organisations to encourage them to keep supporting Bulgarians in their efforts to fight for their rights.

Commissioner Mimica attaches great importance to educating young consumers. He met with secondary school students and teachers from the Private English Language Secondary School of Chelopech, Bulgaria which was amongst the finalists of this year's competition on ConsumerClassroom.eu – the EU's online platform for consumer education. Within the meeting, the Commissioner listened to young people's ideas how consumer protection rules can better serve the needs of the new generation.

The Consumer Rights information campaign is running in print, online and outdoor media in Bulgaria. The country is one of the eight EU Member States where the campaign is rolling out, in addition to Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Spain. Another specific campaign is foreseen for the EU's newest Member State, Croatia.