PROCES DALjE HARMONIZACIJE EVROPSKOG POTROŠAČKOG PRAVA

At the time of the establishment of the European Communities in 1957, there was no special provision on consumer policy for the whole of Europe. At the time, individual consumer policies of member states reflected different national cultures, traditions, administrative systems and priorities. Consumer policy at European level has become necessary for them in order to have adequate protection when trading in the single market. The first special consumer protection program was adopted in 1975, which was the basis for a growing body of directives and regulations in the field of consumer protection. Currently, about 90 EU directives cover consumer protection issues. Key EU policy areas related to consumer protection are the protection of life, health and safety of consumers; consumer information; protection of economic interests of consumers; protection of legal interests of consumers.

Consumer Policy

This chapter shows how and why consumer law and policy has developed in the European Union. It examines the contributions of the judicial and legislative institutions of the EU. It also explains the relevant changes made to the EU Treaties as they have been periodically revised. Consumer law is in part an application of EU internal market law, but it is also built on its own distinctive themes. These include consumer choice, transparency in the market, concern to protect the weaker party, and fairness. Consumer law also offers a helpful basis on which to assess the competing claims of maximum and minimum harmonization.

Political structures and trust in markets: A comparative examination of consumer trust in 28 EU member states and the effects of consumer policy on trust

A central tenet of the New Economic Sociology is that trust is a central factor in the sound functioning of markets. Previous research has mainly used a national-scale network approach to argue that personal relations generate trust in market relations. In contrast, this article shows, from a comparative perspective, how political structures influence consumer trust. First, using aggregate data, it shows how consumer trust in markets varies across the 28 European Union (EU) member states. Second, it uses regression models to examine the effects of varying levels of political embeddedness on consumer trust, taking consumer policy as a proxy. The results support the view that it is not only personal relations that generate trust in market relations but also political structures. This argument echoes institutional economic sociological approaches, and it adds to them a trust dimension. It furthermore encourages a more finely grained comparative analysis to better account for the effects of social macrostructures on trust.

TECHNICAL REGULATIONS AS A COMPLEX REGULATOR AND EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF VETMEDICINE ENTERPRISES IN MARKET CONDITIONS

In modern market conditions, knowledge of laws and regulations in the field of technical regulation allows managers and specialists of veterinary medicine to avoid unnecessary costs and risks in the development, supply and organization of production, greatly facilitates the preparation and completion of registration procedures in Ukraine and protects against inconsistencies in activities. Given the importance of this, the President of Ukraine in 2005 issued a Decree "On measures to improve activities in the field of technical regulation and consumer policy." For its implementation in Ukraine the Concept of development of technical regulation and consumer policy is developed. The purpose of the Concept is to create a modern system of technical regulation and consumer protection adapted to EU and WTO requirements, which will promote economic development, entrepreneurship, fair competition, protection of human health and the environment, consumer rights to quality and safe products, eliminate trade inconsistencies. In these conditions, national standardization is rapidly being established. Since 2005, the Law of Ukraine “On Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures” has been implemented. Introduced a new type of legal document - technical regulations, and this significantly and targeted-specifically increases the level of requirements for all types of enterprises, including enterprises of veterinary medicine. The main requirement laid down in the technical regulations is the quality and safety of products. Quality is the absolute confidence of the manufacturer in its products at any level of its development, production and consumption. Therefore, a justified and cost-effective policy for veterinary enterprises should be to focus on advanced achievements in ensuring stable and competitive product quality. The technical regulation, as a normative legal document, directly and through reference contains mandatory requirements for the technology of production of products for veterinary medicine and animal husbandry, rules of conformity assessment, rules of identification, packaging, labeling, etc. These requirements are enshrined in the new Law of Ukraine "On Veterinary Medicine". It is also important that strict compliance with the provisions of technical regulations gives manufacturers the opportunity to assess and control the risks that are significant in terms of product safety, and to implement in the practice of the enterprise rules of good manufacturing practice. Regarding the completeness of the development of technical regulations that would take into account the specialization of enterprises, there is a need to continue research, summarize the experience of leading foreign firms, improve the mechanisms of their implementation in the practice of veterinary enterprises.

Consumer Policy and European Union Politics

The rise of consumer policy is inextricably linked to the emergence of the consumer society after the Second World War. From the mid-1970s the EU became engaged in the issue. It used first and foremost legal means, directives, and regulations. The actors were no longer nation-states, governments, national parliaments, national courts, and national consumer organizations; they became the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Court of Justice, European organizations, research institutions, and consultancy firms, which interact in a multilevel economy and society.

NBN Futures Forum: Towards a National Broadband Strategy for Australia, 2020-2030

On 24 November 2020, TelSoc hosted the fifth NBN Futures Forum, held online, to launch the first major report, Towards a National Broadband Strategy for Australia, from the NBN Futures Group. The report, which summarized nearly two years of deliberations by the NBN Futures Group, contained 13 conclusions that were presented and discussed at the Forum. These conclusions supported the view that broadband is an essential service for Australia’s digital economy and society and that Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) is central to broadband provision. They promoted the concept of an overarching National Broadband Strategy to achieve social, economic and governmental goals. In addition to the main speech presenting the report’s conclusions, there were written statements from the Minister and Shadow Minister, supplementary remarks from two members of the NBN Futures Group, commentary from three panellists on consumer, policy and governmental perspectives, and general discussion. This paper summarizes the full content of the Forum.