Enforcement authorities
The ECC-Network detects and formally posts alerts about emerging market threats to national authorities in individual countries that are responsible for the enforcement of EU consumer protection law. Read on to learn more about the network of enforcement authorities (Consumer Protection Cooperation Network) and the enforcement of EU consumer protection law.
Enforcement of EU consumer protection law
The Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Regulation (EU 2017/2394) came into force on 17 January 2020, replacing the 2006 CPC Regulation (EU Regulation 2006/2004).
The CPC Regulation lays down a framework to strengthen the powers of national authorities to enforce consumer protection law — in the EU and selected EEA countries — and to cooperate with their counterparts in the EU. Collectively, these national authorities form the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network.
The cooperation is applicable to consumer rules covering various areas, such as unfair commercial practices, e-commerce, geo-blocking, package holidays, online selling, and passenger rights.
What enforcers can do
The revised CPC Regulation creates a more efficient cooperation framework for enforcement to increase compliance with consumer legislation across the EU, reduce consumer detriment, and increase legal certainty, especially for traders and consumers engaged in cross-border activities. Authorities are now able to act faster, save costs, and operate via a single coordinated procedure.
Enforcers can step in and take action if a business violates the law. For example, if websites or social media accounts contain scams, national consumer authorities can have them corrected or taken down. They can also request information from domain registrars, internet service providers, and banks to track financial flows and find out the identity of those behind bad practices.
And if a national consumer authority repeatedly receives complaints about a business that is incapable of delivering on time and refuses to refund consumers, it can order to close the business’s website or account.
Role of the European Commission
The European Commission can alert national authorities and coordinate their action to tackle practices that harm a large majority of EU consumers. It will coordinate any necessary action and liaise with the relevant national authorities where infringements affect at least two-thirds of the member states and two-thirds of the EU population.
Financial penalties
National authorities may impose financial penalties for infringements covered by the CPC Regulation. However, the revised CPC Regulation does not stipulate an EU-wide penalty regime, which is why domestic penalty regimes will apply.
Cooperation between the ECC Network and the CPC Network
The networks of national consumer protection enforcement authorities (CPC Network) and European Consumer Centres (ECC Network) are coordinated by the same unit within the European Commission. These two networks work closely together.
The ECC-Net regularly provides information about consumer complaints and breaches of consumer rights legislation. Furthermore, the two networks hold regular meetings. As a result, authorities can identify enforcement priorities and perform specific activities to investigate breaches of consumer protection law.
Want more information?
Would you like to know more about the CPC Network and its achievements? Or do you want to have a look at an up-to-date list of CPC actors? Head to the website of the European Commission.