The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Legal Structure | Government |
| Industry | |
| Also known as | EU |
| Official website | https://european-union.europa.eu/ |
Article 169 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union enables the EU to use its ordinary legislative procedure to protect consumers "health, safety and economic interests" and promote rights to "information, education and to organise themselves in order to safeguard their interests".[1] All member states may grant higher protection, and a "high level of consumer protection" is regarded as a fundamental right.[2]
Consumer rights legislation
edit- Product Liability Directive (EU) 2024/2853
- replacing Product Liability Directive 85/374/EEC
- Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Directive 93/13/EEC
- Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC
- Consumer Rights Directive 2011/83/EU
- General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (GDPR)
- Digital Markets Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/1925) (DMA)
- Anti-SLAPP Directive (EU) 2024/1069
- Right To Repair Directive (EU) 2024/1799 (R2RD)
Consumer protection
editConsumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network coordinates national consumer authorities work at EU level, regulated by Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation (EU) 2017/2394. At national level consumer rights investigations and enforcement are carried out by relevant CPC actors – CPC single liaison offices and CPC competent authorities.
Member states
editEuropean Union directives are binding to all EU countries, European Economic Area countries implement consumer protection laws based on bilateral agreements with the EU.[citation needed]
| European Union (EU) & European Economic Area (EEA) member states | |
|---|---|
| EU | Austria • Belgium • Bulgaria • Croatia • Cyprus • Czechia • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Lithuania • Luxembourg • Malta • Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden |
| EEA | Iceland • Liechtenstein • Norway |
European Economic Area
editThe non-EU members of the EEA (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) have agreed to enact legislation similar to that passed in the EU in the areas of social policy, consumer protection, environment, company law and statistics. From the 23,000 EU laws currently in force, the EEA has incorporated around 5,000 (in force) meaning that EEA states are subject to roughly 21% of EU laws.
Incidents
editThis is a list of the most important consumer-protection incidents concerning European Union. Full list of relevant pages can be found under European Union category.
Chat Control
editOn 11 May 2022 the European Commission presented a proposal ("Chat Control 2.0") which would have made chat control searching mandatory for all e-mail and messenger providers and would even have applied to so far securely end-to-end encrypted communication services. The regulation is expected to be adopted in July 2026, with possible amendments.[update needed]
Stop Destroying Videogames (ECI)
editOn 19 June 2024, "Stop Destroying Videogames" was registered as a European Citizens' Initiative by Daniel Ondruska.[3] A month and a half later, on 31 July 2024, the initiative began collecting signatures.
The collection of signatures ended 1 August 2025, with a total of 1,448,270 and 24 out of 27 state members crossing the minimum thresholds. In the following three months, the signatures were to be verified and validated by all state members. In an announcement from the initiative campaigners on 24 January 2026, the final count of verified signatures was 1,294,188.[4]
On 16 April 2026, members of the Stop Killing Games movement had a public hearing with the European Parliament Commission.[5]
On 19 May 2026 the European Economic and Social Committee had a debate about the Stop Destroying Videogames ECI to which Stop Killing Games had been invited to participate.[6][7]
Following up the European Parliament public hearing from April, on 21 May 2026 the initiative was discussed in the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg with participation of the European Commission.[8][9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ TFEU art 169
- ↑ TFEU art 169(3) and the CFREU art 38
- ↑ Ondruska, Daniel (19 Jun 2024). "Stop Destroying Videogames". European Citizens' Initiative. Archived from the original on 19 Jun 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ Mr_Presidentle (24 Jan 2026). "Stop Killing Games: Final Count of Verified Signatures of the European Citizens Initiative". Reddit. Archived from the original on 26 Jan 2026. Retrieved 25 Jan 2026.
- ↑ European Parliament (16 Apr 2026). "Stop destroying video games". YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 May 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ Stop Killing Games (19 May 2026). "EESC debate about Stop Destroying Videogames ECI (Original audio)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 May 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ Stop Killing Games (19 May 2026). "EESC debate about Stop Destroying Videogames ECI (English audio)". YouTube. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Stop Killing Games (21 May 2026). "Stop Destroying Videogames ECI : European Parliament plenary session (Original audio)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 May 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ Stop Killing Games (21 May 2026). "Stop Destroying Videogames ECI : European Parliament plenary session (English audio)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 May 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.