Banking, energy and urban transport “underperforming” for ConsumersEuropean Consumers aren’t satisfied with services in banking, energy suppliers and transport areas. On February 2 the EU Commission published its 2nd “Consumer Markets Scorecard Report”, that screens more than 20 goods and services sectors , including food, clothing, financial and telecommunication services, against 5 key consumer indicators- prices, switching, satisfaction, complaints and safety. For the Executive , “the aim is to identify areas where markets have a high risk of malfunctioning for consumers”. Analysing the results, EU Consumer Commissioner Mrs. Melena Kuneva said: ” I am concerned that three services that play such a central part in people’s lives are scoring badly”. The “Report” highlighted “that services are consistently causing” on citizens and families “more problems than traditional goods markets.” Scrolling down the report (that strongly varies from country to country) reveals that “the satisfaction is particularly low for urban and extra-urban transports (trains, buses and trams) , energy, fixed telephony and postal services. ” In all these sectors less than 60% of consumers are satisfied with the services. As for the energy sector, about 60% of consumers reported price increases in electricity and gas supply services, while only 4% saw price decreases. Banking is “particularly problematic in terms of comparability of offers, ease of switching and actual switching”.Sustainable Urban Mobility for cleaner cities”Only a concerted action among cities, Members States and the EU can enable Europe to meet its goals on climate change, energy safety and environment pollution. Only by working together, we can find solutions to our cities’ environmental problems”, starting from public transport upgrade. The Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Transport, Mr. Antonio Tajani, said during a recent Conference in Toulouse (attended by more than 100 cities of 30 States) on the European Project “Civitas II”. Mr. Tajani cited Civitas as a “good example of how the EU can support cities with funding aimed at innovative technologies and policy measures for promoting clean vehicles, public transport and other more sustainable modes such as walking or cycling.” More than 70% of European citizens live in towns and cities, with a strong concentration of factories, offices and shopping malls. “Some 40% of Europe’s CO2 emissions are due to urban traffic”, linked to cities. “Today, Europe is facing a serious economic recession – we must turn it into an opportunity. We must invest in innovative new policies and technologies” to reduce congestion in metropolis and cities. “In 2009 we will launch a series of concrete actions that will follow an integrated approach on sustainable urban mobility”.EU promotes organic farming”Organic farming. Good for nature, good for you” or “Simply good”. Are two of the EU campaign slogans aimed at supporting organic farming and food production. The campaign also includes a new multilingual website (http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/organic). As we can read on the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mrs. Mariann Fischer Boel’s home page “many people care about organic food and farming”. The campaign is very successful. “People- the Commissioner explains- care about the many special qualities of organic food. They care about the particular emphasis that organic farming places on low-input production, on the protection of our natural resources and of biodiversity, and on animal welfare. They also care about the contribution ” this human activity “can make to economic development in rural communities”. Mrs Fischer Boel adds: ” There are many untapped opportunities in this sector. We must do our best to leverage them.” The website includes material for local campaigns: information packages, key-messages, marketing material, photos, radio and TV material. As we can read on the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mrs. Mariann Fischer Boel’s home page “many people care about organic food and farming”. The campaign is very successful. “People- the Commissioner explains- care about the many special qualities of organic food. They care about the particular emphasis that organic farming places on low-input production, on the protection of our natural resources and of biodiversity, and on animal welfare. They also care about the contribution ” this human activity “can make to economic development in rural communities”. Mrs Fischer Boel adds: ” There are many untapped opportunities in this sector. We must do our best to leverage them.” The website includes material for local campaigns: information packages, key-messages, marketing material, photos, radio and TV material.
