Publications
Want to know more about EU consumer rights, current and future challenges consumers face or about ECC-Net? This page provides an overview of position papers, research reports, information resources and anniversary reports.
ECC-Net Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Since 2005, the ECC Network (ECC-Net) has been dedicated to protecting consumer rights across the EU, Norway, and Iceland. Visit our anniversary page to discover various initiatives undertaken by ECC-Net and local ECCs over the years.
IBAN discrimination still fragments Europe’s Single Market. Despite clear rules in the SEPA and Geo-blocking Regulations and the Payment Accounts Directive guaranteeing equal treatment of all EU bank accounts, many businesses and administrations continue to refuse non-domestic IBANs. ECC-Net calls for swift, consistent enforcement to uphold consumers’ rights and unlock the full potential of Europe’s payments market.
The European Union has been consistently enhancing consumer rights in e-commerce over the past few decades. While consumers are well-protected against unfair business practices in many respects, the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) has identified a range of issues linked to the increasing prevalence of 'dropshipping' companies. Therefore, ECC-Net has published a policy paper that addresses the challenges connected with dropshipping.
In the rapidly growing e-commerce sector, efficient and reliable parcel delivery is essential. Despite extensive EU legislation aimed at protecting consumers, delivery and return issues continue to generate numerous complaints. These complaints are not due to gaps or ambiguities in the law but result from traders failing to comply with existing regulations. In this paper the ECC-Net has identified key areas of concern and proposes recommendations to enhance consumer protection.
The European Commission has put forward a new proposal aimed at promoting the repair of goods by introducing rules that will make it easier for consumer to have broken products repaired rather than replaced. This position paper lists ECC-Net's recommendations of what should be included in the future Directive. The paper also identifies national actions from across the EU that already encourage the repair of consumer goods.
ECC-Net’s input on the digitalisation of consumer markets for the Consumer Policy Advisory Group (CPAG) Fitness Check of EU consumer law on digital fairness. This publication reflects ECC-Net's insights as a European network providing advice and help to consumers across borders.
Access to financial services is key for consumer who like to shop across border and travel to different EU countries. Based on the questions and complaints the ECC-Net has received over the past few years, we have compiled a list of issues we consider worth improving.