No more logos on cigarette packs in the EU?

It is unlikely that anyone would consider smoking a healthy habit. It still may be seen as a sign of 'being cool', but the times had changed and the Mad Men-era where success was celebrated with a cigarette in one hand is long gone. In more and more Member States a ban has been introduced on smoking in public places. Still, more means on deterring Europeans from smoking are being considered - some of them could further restrict advertising and packaging rules of tobacco products.

The European institutions consider introducing a ban on logos on cigarette packs, for example, within its review of 2001 Tobacco Products Directive, which is to be published in the fall. A spokesman for the European Commission, Antonio Gravili, said during a news briefing that introduction of European rules on plain packaging of tobacco products is being considered. (EU considering cigarette logo ban to deter smoking) Such a ban is already in force in Australia, and as of December all cigarettes sold there will have to be wrapped in plain, olive packaging. This governmental ban was questioned by British American Tobacco, Philip Morris and other tobacco companies but the Australia's High Court upheld the ban. Tobacco companies claim that such a ban infringes their intellectual property rights and boosts sales of fake or illegally imported cigarettes. (WHO welcomes landmark decision from Australia's High Court on tobacco plain packaging act and Australia's plain packaging wins against global tobacco firms)

Other options that are being discussed in the Commission are: printing larger graphic images on cigarette packs of the diseases linked to smoking (though how much larger can it get, really?), covering electronic cigarettes with the Directive.

This all comes among the World Health Organisation's prediction that smoking could kill 8 million people every year by 2030. (WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic - executive summary) Another survey showed that Europe has the world's highest rate of smokers aged 13-15. (Exposure of children to environmental tobacco smoke and Global Youth Tobacco Survey)

The architecture of European consumer law

Another addition to the Summer reading list: Hans Micklitz (EUI) published a paper on the architecture of European consumer law and the need for innovation of its structure.

The abstract reads as follows:

'The paper is a translation of the Gutachten prepared for the 69. Deutschen Juristentag to be held in September 2012. It pleads for a separate consumer law code outside private law codifications. The benchmarks are: rethinking the concept of the consumer (the vulnerable consumer and the consumer/customer), focussing beyond traditional consumer law on internet sales and on consumer services (telecom, energy, transport, financial services), integrating and developing a consistent approach to consumer law enforcement via individual and collective action, via ADR, courts and administrative bodies. The solution is seen in a movable system (bewegliches System) that allows for connecting substantive rights and remedies to the different concepts of consumers, vulnerable, confident and responsible.'

The paper can be downloaded here.

For more information on the German Juristentag, please refer to the conference website.

Your voice in Europe

The European Commission published some interim results of the currently running public consultation on citizens' rights (see an earlier post, 'Europe and you'). So far, more than 5,500 EU-citizens have answered the Commission's questionnaire. The consultation is open till 9 September 2012.

More information is available on the 'Your rights, your future' website. See also the Commission's 'Your voice in Europe' website for an overview of public consultations.

Improving health through online services

Summer holiday of the EU allows me to catch up with certain EU consumer policies that I have missed previously this year. I thought I would share with my readers, the results of the Citizen Panel Survey that assess the patients' needs and expectations regarding the ICT for health. The internet can be used for health in many ways and forms, e.g.: EU citizens may consult the internet to find out more about a certain disease, they may download an application on their smartphones showing e.g. how many pollens are there in the air influencing their allergies, they could receive their prescriptions online, etc.

The European Commission placed the area of eHealth on the Digital Agenda with an aim to improve the health status and quality of life of Europeans. On the basis of the results of the survey, the EU institutions hope to develop typologies of digital healthcare users and measure the impact of the ICT and the internet on health status, health care demand and health management. The other goal is to identify factors that could either enhance or inhibit the role and use of Personal Health Systems from a citizen's perspective. The online survey was conducted in 2011 among EU citizens from 14 Member States (1000 per country), aged from 16 to 74 years (using the internet at least sporadically).

The sampled citizens use the ICT in health for following reasons:

• 39% - to better understand a health problem or disease;
• 36% - to find additional sources of information;
• 35% - to develop knowledge;
• 35% - to develop personal satisfaction;
• 31% - to help a family member/friend who is ill;
• 28% - to prevent illness or adopt a more healthy lifestyle;
• 28% - to find a solution to or a treatment for a health problem;
• 22% - to obtain different points of view about an issue;
• 21% - to access online health service;
• 11% - to participate in online discussions.

"With respect to the socio-demographic characteristics of the population, the perception of the importance of ICT in health as triggers is much more positive for women, young people, the middle aged, those with a tertiary education, the employed, students, and people in a bad state of health or with long standing illnesses." (p. 15)

As far as the barriers to use the ICT for health are concerned, the following have been mentioned:

• 52% - lack of privacy;
• 51% - lack of security;
• 47% - lack of reliability;
• 46% - lack of trust;
• 38% - lack of liability;
• 36% - lack of health literacy;
• 33% - lack of knowledge;
• 29% - lack of access to ICTs for health;
• 28% - lack of motivation and interest;
• 24% - lack of digital skills.

The survey showed also how rarely Europeans participate in ICT for health, e.g.:

• 56% - have never bought medicine or vitamins online;
• 60% - have never participate in online support groups for people with the same health issue;
• 58% - have never used social networking sites for health and wellness issues;
• 58% - have never used email or website to communicate with a doctor;
• 52% - have never analysed the privacy policy for personal information in medicinal websites;
• 79% - have never made an online consultation through videoconference with healthcare professionals;
• 75% - have not received medical or clinical tests online;
• 77% - have not accessed or uploaded medical results via a specialist provider (e.g. Google Health or Microsoft Vault);
• 76% - have not accessed or uploaded medical results via an internet application provided by a health organisation;
• 76.6% - have not used health or wellness applications on mobile telephones.

It seems, therefore, that the use of the ICT in health services is still significantly limited. However, as the study states it shows the "potential of ICT for Health to promote active and healthy individuals and increase empowerement". Not surprisingly, the EU citizens are more likely to consult the internet in order to find more information about their or others illness (after all, most of us turn to the internet as a huge encyclopedia). It is likely that a common issue with obtaining many e-services: the lack of trust in its privacy, security and reliability, stops the EU citizens from relying more heavily on eHealth services, e.g., when they would have to reveal their medical information online (even though 55% state that they would share their personal health information with their doctor online despite privacy issue). Still, this is something that the EU institutions should work on, since the improvement of eHealth services could lead to saving of time and travel costs for many citizens, as well as improve the options for EU citizens to take care of themselves.

CARRP - not a fish, but: a credit agreement relating to residential property

As we are all waiting for the European institutions to come back from their holiday and pick up where they left unresolved consumer law matters, certain problems will have to wait longer than others. In September there was supposed to be a vote in the European Parliament on the European directive on credit agreements relating to residential property (CARRP), but the news agencies inform that the vote was delayed until December 10. (Vote on European mortgage regulation delayed for three months) The proposal for this Directive was issued by the European Commission in March of 2011. (Mortgages: better protection for European consumers) In the coming months the European institutions will have more time, therefore, to discuss the provisions of this draft Directive.

If you have not yet heard of the CARRP and its goals, you should know that the CARRP is supposed to regulate more strictly advertising of mortgage credit, making sure that consumers do not get false expectations regarding the cost of the credit or its availability. Moreover, it would strengthen the supervision and regulation over institutions issuing mortgage credit as well as credit intermediaries. Another goal of the CARRP is to improve the information that is being given to consumers on mortgage credits (e.g., by creating a credit database), as well as to personalise it (through a European Standardised Information Sheet - ESIS). Consumers should also benefit from a harmonised annual percentage rate of charge. 

Last month the European Banking Industry Committee (EBIC) gave its opinion on the draft. One of its criticism is that the draft suggests that the Directive shall not apply to credit agreements in the form of overdraft facilities only where the consumer agrees to be exempted from the provisions of the Directive. However, the already binding Consumer Credit Directive gives mandatory consumer protection in cases of overdraft facilities, which pursuant to EBIC should lead to the exclusion of such credit agreements from the scope of application of the CARRP as a rule. One of the positively assessed elements of the CARRP is the introduction of more (and more clear) rules on what explanations should be given by lenders to consumers.

Summer reading

While many legal institutions are taking a Summer break, news on legislative processes and case law is somewhat scarce. Those of you (back or still) at work looking for some reading materials related to consumer issues may therefore take the opportunity to read up on the pending proposal for a Common European Sales Law (CESL) or on the legal, political and economic aspects of the ongoing economic crisis in the EU.

Some relatively recent reading tips on the CESL include:

- Reich and Micklitz, 'The Commission Proposal for a "Regulation on a Common European Sales Law" - Too Broad or Not Broad Enough?'

- Eidenmüller and others, 'The Proposal for a Regulation on a Common European Sales Law. Deficits of the Most Recent Textual Layer of European Contract Law'

- Hesselink, 'The Case for a Common European Sales Law in an Age of Rising Nationalism'

Readers interested in economics and political science may want to consult Professor Eichengreen's reading list. Personally, I would add Sylvia Nasar's 'Grand Pursuit: A Story of Economic Genius', which beautifully recounts the development of economic theory from Dickens's times till today.

Be informed

Have you ever been disappointed by shops in another country closing at an earlier time than you thought? Or have you perhaps been pleasantly surprised by sales being held at a different time than you expected? In order to provide consumers with some practical information about shopping in different Member States, the UK European Consumer Centre has recently started publishing 'EU shopping guides'. These leaflets provide details about, for example, pricing, tax, opening hours and banking services in EU Member States. The first guide concerned the UK itself and was published at the occasion of the Olympic Games of this year. Shopping guides for other EU countries are being made available on the UK ECC's website as they appear.

Mondays are 'let's shop online'-days in Europe

Last month a new study was published about the way European consumers conduct their e-lives. It was conducted by a Japanese retail company, Rakuten and one of its main findings was that more people turn to e-commerce sites after work on a Monday (in the UK and Germany), than during any other time of the week. Apparently virtual shopping works just as well well as real life one in making us feel better when we are feeling a bit down (due to having gone back to work, again). Interestingly, in France such a peak appears on Wednesdays - when French children finish school early and their parents are more likely to get home early, too. Another finding is the opposite trend in the UK and France as to when smartphones and tablets are used for e-commerce. English commuters tend to shop more online on their way to work in the morning, while French ones do it on their way back home more often (between six and seven in the evening). (Study examines Brits' e-commerce habits) I hope European Commission has more luck than I did finding online the whole study (and not just its summaries) and will add it to its database on consumer shopping behaviour that should be consulted during any legislative process.

Things to do with e-waste or WEEE

When your computer or laptop dies... what do you do with it? One option is to just throw it away with your regular garbage, but that does not seem quite right, does it? Some consumers would be worried about it being revived by some e-wizard and someone gaining access to his personal data that could still be there on the computer. Fewer consumers would have a thought that it may not be environmentally friendly to throw electronic waste out with other garbage but would not know where to take it (or the collection point would be set somewhere far away from their home). Many consumers would just keep it in a drawer/cellar hoping that one day they would be able to throw it out safely.

Yesterday a new Directive entered into force that deals with waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). One of the goals of the Directive is that by February 2014 Member States enable consumers to return small e-waste at large retail shops or provide an even more effective waste disposal manner. (New rules on e-waste to boost resource efficiency)

Microsoft under investigation for limiting consumers' options

Consumers own many of their consumers' privileges to the healthy competition between businesses. Knowing that, the European institutions try to protect competition in the internal market - also in the online world. In 2009, the European Union settled antitrust proceedings with Microsoft, in which the company was accused of not granting enough access to rival browsers in their Windows software. Namely, the fact that Windows operating system is combined with a pre-installed Internet Explorer browser could be seen as an unfair competition practice towards all other producers of browsers. As a result of the settlement, the European consumers who bought a computer with a Windows operating system (which is a default for most of us), should have been offered a browser choice when launching Windows - instead of just having the Internet Explorer chosen as a default. However, last month it was proven that Microsoft's side of the deal was not fulfilled for their Windows 7 operating system. As a result, European internet users were not offered the browsers' choice as of February 2011. Microsoft blames this on a technical problem and denies any intent of infringement. As an apology the company offers to extend the agreed compliance period (until 2014) for an additional 15 months. The European institutions may, however, decide on fining the company this time. (EU investigates Microsoft over browsers)