Article 184: Promotion of Consumer Interests in the Community

 

  1.         The Member States shall promote the interests of consumers in the Community by appropriate measures that:

(a) provide for the production and supply of goods and the provision of services to ensure the protection of life, health and safety of consumers;

(b) ensure that goods supplied and services provided in the CSME satisfy regulations, standards, codes and licensing requirements established or approved by competent bodies in the Community;

(c) provide, where the regulations, standards, codes and licensing requirements referred to in paragraph (b) do not exist, for their establishment and implementation;

(d) encourage high levels of ethical conduct for those engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services to consumers;

(e) encourage fair and effective competition in order to provide consumers with greater choice among goods and services at lowest cost;

(f) promote the provision of adequate information to consumers to enable the making of informed choices;

(g) ensure the availability of adequate information and education programmes for consumers and suppliers;

(h) protect consumers by prohibiting discrimination against producers and suppliers of goods produced in the Community and against service providers who are nationals of other Member States of the Community;

(i)         encourage the development of independent consumer organisations;

(j)         provide adequate and effective redress for consumers.

  1. For the purpose of this Part, “consumer” means any person:

(a) to whom goods or services are supplied or intended to be supplied in the course of business carried on by a supplier or potential supplier; and

(b) who does not receive the goods or services in the course of a business carried on by him.