Services Standards: Defining the Core Consumer Elements ... - ANEC

II.
Services Standards
on liability, let alone a proactive Directive on the safety of services as
counterpart to the GPSD. The Services Directive 2006/123/EC 472 does
not take liability issues into account, although a tight and uniform liability
regime may raise consumer confidence if he or she makes use of the
new freedoms granted under this Directive.
• The European Commission should investigate more deeply the
mandatory requirements that should govern the quality of services. In the
field of products the European Community sets out a relatively dense
network of minimum requirements that protect the consumer, in particular
the Consumer Sales Directive 99/44/EC 473 . However, there is no
regulatory counterpart for services. The different sector-specific
directives and regulations affect the quality of services to a varying
degree, they sometimes shape consumer rights. The standard-setting
within Standards Bodies should be backed by a European set of legal
rules which protect the consumer against insufficient quality, improper
performance and economic losses. The recently adopted Green Paper
on the Review of the Consumer Acquis 474 which proposes as an option a
general fairness test, remedies against violations of information
obligations and remedies against improper and insufficient performance,
should be regarded as a step into the right direction.
To the European Commission and Member States: Elevating the role
and function of consumer representation in European
standardisation of services
The New Approach to products was adopted in 1985 475 . Already prior to its
adoption, consumer organisations and their representatives have argued that
the increasing role of standardisation in the European integration process could
only be legitimised by granting consumer organisations a clear-cut legal status
in the New Approach. More than twenty years have passed by, without such a
claim getting the support it needs. Although standardisation under the Services
Directive and the envisaged extension of the New Approach to foodstuff,
cosmetics and environmental protection 476 , is gaining pace, democratic
accountability of law making via standardisation is not openly discussed.
472 OJ L 376, 27.12.2006, 36.
473 OJ L 171, 7.7.1999, 12.
474 COM (2006) 744 final, 8.2.2007 p. 14 et seq.
475 OJ C 136, 4.6.1985, 100.
476 A Horizontal Legislative approach to the harmonisation of legislation on industrial products,
6.9.2006, European Commission, DG Enterprise, Certif doc 2005-16 Rev. 2.
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