Abstract
The Single Market formula which equates the consumer interest with wider choice and lower costs ignores the potency of other competing factors which influence consumer behaviour. Access to information and advice and to redress mechanisms, and adequate levels of compensation, will increasingly inform the purchasing decisions of consumers.
EC-wide co-operation and coordination are vital to ensure that existing disparities in the levels of consumer protection are reduced. This is only likely to occur within the context of a coherent policy which addresses the key issues of access to courts and alternative redress systems.
Zusammenfassung
Wird im Zusammenhang mit dem Gemeinsamen Markt das Verbraucherinteresse mit grö\erer Wahlfreiheit und geringeren Kosten gleichgesetzt, so werden andere wichtige Einflu\faktoren des Konsumentenverhaltens übersehen. Der Zugang zur Information und Beratung und zu Schadenersatz-Mechanismen, sowie angemessene Ausgleichshöhe Access to Justice and Consumer Redress 415 werden die Kaufentscheidungen im zunehmenden Ma\e beeinflussen. EG-weite Kooperation und Koordination sind unverzichtbar, wenn es darum geht, Ungleichheiten im Niveau des Schutzes von Verbrauchern zu vermindern. Es wird nur gelingen, wenn eine kohÄrente Politik die zentralen Themen des Rechtszuganges und alternativer Ausgleichssysteme anpackt.
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References
Annual Report of the Director General of Fair Trading (1991). London: HMSO.
BEUC/Coopers & Lybrand Europe (1990).The handling of crossborder consumer disputes. Brussels: Bureau Européen des Consommateurs.
Personal injury awards in EC countries (1990). London: Lloyd's of London Press.
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Consumers in the European Community Group (CECG), an umbrella body for 31 UK organisations. CECG carries out research on the effects of EC policies and proposals on UK consumers and represents the collective views of its membership to Government, the Commission, the UK and European Parliaments, the Economic and Social Committee, and other EC advisory committees.
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Gibson, L. Access to justice and consumer redress within a Single Market. J Consum Policy 15, 407–415 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014119
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014119