By Neven MIMICA
"Need credit? Don't just sign. You have rights". This is the essential message we want to get across to consumers.
When I took up the consumer portfolio – more than 3 months ago – I emphasised that raising consumers' awareness of their rights was one of my priorities. This campaign is a very good example of how we can do precisely this.
Over the last few years, we have all seen the impact of the economic crisis. Against this backdrop, consumers throughout Europe are becoming more worried about credit and, not surprisingly, are taking a keener interest in learning about financial products.
We have seen, more clearly than ever before, that financial issues are at the heart of our everyday lives and that the financial choices we make have far reaching consequences.
It is also clear that consumers are finding it more and more difficult to cope with the increasing complexity of financial products and services. A Eurobarometer survey, for example, showed that more than 50% of Europeans want to see personal loans simplified.
We also conducted a survey a few months ago to gain better understanding of consumers' views on credit. I regret to say that the results were not very encouraging.
About 30% of consumers said that they took out credit in the previous two years. But about 70% reported that they did not feel they knew about their credit rights and did not feel confident about choosing the right product, while 80% said that they did not feel protected.
These and other results highlight why we decided to run this campaign now.
We want to raise consumer awareness about their rights when they take out credit – rights that are granted to them under the EU's Consumer Credit Directive.
There are rights arising from the Consumer Credit Directive:
- The right to transparent advertising.
- The right to pre-contractual information.
- The right to clear information in the contract.
- The right to change your mind.
- The right to repay early.
These are the main consumer rights. We want to make sure that consumers know these rights.
We want people to know that before they choose a credit option, they can shop around and compare offers to get the best deal.
We also want everyone to know that after they have made their choice, they have clear rights as well.
And once you have a right, you can get it enforced through your national institutions. We enjoy full co-operation for this from the Spanish authorities.
Allow me now to give a few more details on what the campaign involves:
- The campaign is being launched in four countries - Ireland, Malta, here in Spain and it will be launched in Cyprus.
- It targets young consumers between the ages of 18 and 35 – students, young professionals, young families, for example – in other words, consumers who are likely to be taking out credit for the first time.
- We are using both print and online media to publicise the campaign. We will be on Twitter and have a dedicated website. I encourage you to spend some time exploring the campaign's visual material and to become familiar with its logo.
- We are also going to be out and about – for instance meeting consumers and distributing leaflets in shopping malls.
This is an important campaign, because it touches the needs of an increasing higher number of people. The economic difficulties of several EU countries had serious repercussions on ordinary people, in particular the most vulnerable ones. In the European Commission we are actively trying to alleviate the consequences of the crisis and to prevent new difficulties of this magnitude in the future.
The question frequently asked to me is why you launch the campaign five years after the adoption of the Directive. It is because we wanted to wait for the transposition of the Directive in the Member States. Now we know that the countries we chose for the campaign have transposed well the Directive in their legal orders. We are confident that institutions and financial services know by now what the Directive entails, but we are less confident about consumers' awareness of it.
This initiative will be successful only if our efforts are combined. In this way, it will have direct impact on the numerous citizens who had to take a credit. I therefore count on your support to raise awareness.
The Greek presidency of EU must be annulled, because the kleptocratic alliance of Pasok mafia and Nea Democratia mafia cannot be trusted. The freakish government of Greece stole my computer, my files, and my life in cold blood! Basil Venitis, venitis@gmail.com, http://themostsearched.blogspot.com
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