Car accidents: life-saving eCallThere have been 1.2 million car accidents in roads across Europe in 2008, causing the death of 39thousand and leaving over 1.7 million severely injured. The European Commission, on the basis of this ongoing carnage, urges “EU States to speed up the introduction” of the “eCall” initiative. This system installed in vehicles “could save up to 2.500 lives a year”. In case of a serious accident eCall dials automatically 112 EU emergency number and alerts the nearest emergency service on the vehicle’s location. According to the Committee, the wait for emergency services “could be cut by 50% and bring about a dramatic reduction in the gravity of injuries while saving the lives of those who don’t know or are unable to communicate the accident’s exact location”. ECall adoption is currently at the discretion of public authorities, automobile companies and mobile phone operators while “the system is not yet active in several EU Countries”. The Commission declared in a blueprint that “if significant progress in the system’s introduction is not made by the end of 2009” it will “propose legislative measures to ensure the adoption of this life-saving technology across Europe” as soon as possible. Competition policy in times of crisisCompetition rules in times of crisis; state aid, abuse of dominant market positions and cartel cases, along with the safeguard of consumer interests, are some of the main points addressed by the 2008 Competition Report drawn up by the EU and presented by Commissioner Neelie Kroes. “2008 was an unusual and difficult year, which confronted Europe with unprecedented economic challenges. I believe that the Commission’s actions in the field of competition were a determining factor in preserving the single market and the benefits of competition, while ensuring stability in the financial system”, the Commissioner said. “But there has been no let up in other competition enforcement: the competition rules are even more vital to the economy in times of crisis”, the Commissioner declared. Major objectives include reforming the policy “to deliver quicker and better decisions” – in antitrust or state aid -, focusing on the benefits competition policy brings to consumers (in 2008, the Commission fined 34 undertakings in seven cartel decisions), policing dominant firms – in the fight against abuses of dominant market positions, the Commission adopted in 2008 important decisions in the energy and IT sectors, such as renown E.ON and Microsoft cases. Consumers: cross-border protection Providing advice and help with cross-border shopping is the task of the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net), which handles over 62.000 contacts with EU consumers who turn for them for advice in person or online, for advice or for help with problems affecting cross-border shopping. The European Commission supports the network and today published the ECC-Net Annual Report for 2008, which saw a “22% increase in the number of Consumers turning to them directly for help”. In 2008 most complaints tackled by ECCs concerned transport (33%, of which 80% related to air transport), recreational services (25%) and hotels and restaurants (13%). The problems concerned “product and service (25%), delivery (18%), contract terms (16%), and unfair commercial practices (14%)”. Over half of the problems reported referred to online shopping. The report highlights many examples of how the centres have helped individual consumers, provides information on joint projects, such as on air passenger rights, and also includes summaries of activity per country. EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said: “It is during recessions that consumers are most vulnerable to the appeal of suspiciously cheap offers and falsely attractive promotions. When they fall victim to a scam in another country, problems multiply”. “What matters is not just the consumer laws in place, but that consumers can benefit from these laws in their daily lives, whether at home or abroad”.
