European Parliament has its say on appointment of Croatian Commissioner-designate for Consumer Protection

On 4 June, Croatian Commissioner-designate for Consumer Protection, Mr Neven Mimica, will be heard by the European Parliament's Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, in association with the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, in view of Croatia’s accession to the EU on 1 July 2013. 

The hearing is an essential part of the procedure for the appointment of Commissioners and the European Commission in general, where the European Parliament, as a directly elected European institution, has real powers to approve or reject the candidate proposed by the Council, thus enhancing the democratic legitimacy of the process.

The Council consulted the Parliament on the intention to appoint Mr Mimica on 2 May 2013 and the President of the European Commission stated his intention to entrust him with the consumer protection portfolio on the same day.

MEPs to question Neven Mimica on his priorities

The hearing gives MEPs an opportunity to engage in a detailed discussion on the priorities of the Commissioner-designate in the portfolio he would be responsible for from the moment of Croatia's accession. The candidate is evaluated on the basis of his general competence, European commitment and personal independence.

The area of consumer protection and consumer rights has particular importance as it is one of the European policy areas with the most direct impact on the everyday lives of citizens, whenever they buy products or services in the internal market, when they contract a mortgage or when they go on holiday.

Harmonisation of consumer protection policy

The Consumer Rights Directive from 2011, which ensured a broad harmonisation of consumer rights in the EU represented a big step forward in the internal market for both consumers and traders based on the compromise between the necessary consumer rights and justified business interests.

Faster and simpler solutions through European-wide dispute resolution procedures

In 2013 the focus in this area is the recently adopted Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) or Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) procedure. On 12 March the European Parliament voted in favour of this proposal and the Member States have 2 years at their disposal to implement ADR/ODR rules in order for the system to be fully operational at the end of 2015.

ADR and ODR are low-cost, fast and simple procedures that take place before an out-of-court body involving a neutral party who helps parties in dispute to settle their differences. They are not internal customer complaint services run by traders.

According to the ODR Regulation, an EU-wide online platform will be set up for handling consumer disputes that arise from online transactions. The platform will link all the national Alternative Dispute Resolution entities and operate in all official EU languages.

The Hearing

The Hearing of Commissioner-designate Mimica will take place on Tuesday, 4 June, from 09.30 to 12.30 in room JAN 4Q2 and will be webstreamed by the European Parliament.

A dedicated webpage on the Hearing has been created and can be consulted here.

The hearing is held in public and scheduled to last three hours. The Commissioner-designate is invited to make an opening statement of no longer than 15 minutes. The Members put forward their questions and before the end of the hearing, the Commissioner-designate is given the opportunity to make a brief closing statement. Read more.