Quality of life - key studies by policy departments

The European Union, through its actions in a wide range of areas, has delivered nearly sixty years of peace, stability and economic progress to EU citizens, thus contributing to the improvement of their quality of life. ‘Quality of life’ is a broad, multidimensional concept, going beyond traditional categories such as ‘economic production’ or ‘living standards’. ‘Quality of life’ includes not only the material aspects of life, but rather everything that one may value in living. Among the features that shape quality of life are health, environmental conditions, economic security, education, social connections, physical integrity, activities that people engage in and their ability to participate as full citizens in the framing of policies. A list of studies that were published by the European Parliament’s Policy Departments, illustrating the EU’s capacity to contribute to the improvement of the citizens’ quality of life, is available here.

Source : © European Union, 2014 - EP

Report on Consumer Policy January 2012-December 2013

The Report shows the progress made in 4 areas: improving consumer safety, increasing people's awareness about their rights as consumers, improved enforcement of existing rules, the adoption of new laws to safeguard the consumer interest across policy areas.

Report on Consumers policy: More Information

The new Consumers Website: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/index_en.htm

Consumer Rights Campaign 2014

As consumers, we are often faced with situations where we are misled, unsure of what we were buying, or have simply changed our minds. This is even more the case when shopping online. Buying services and products online has become much easier, however, it's important that citizens feel safe when making use of these opportunities. The rights granted by EU legislation are only useful if people – both consumers and businesses - are aware of them. This is why the European Commission is launching an awareness campaign at a time when consumers are being given a whole new set of reinforced rights.

The awareness raising campaign, led by Vice President Reding and Commissioner Mimica, aims to inform citizens about key consumer rights such as:

• the right to have defective goods repaired or replaced;
• the right to return something bought on-line during the first 14 days after purchase;
• the right to receive helpful advice in your own country and language if you have a dispute with a trader from another EU country;
• the right to get true and complete statements on the nature of products and services and on all the costs involved;
• the right to have accessible contracts, with clear and understandable conditions.

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/mimica/campaigns/consumer-rights_en.htm

Report on the implementation of the Consumer Credit Directive (May 2014)

The Commission is required to prepare every five years a report on the implementation of the Directive, and in particular assess the relevance of thresholds applied in the Directive and the percentages used for the compensation payable in the event of early repayment. The Commission has also the duty of monitoring the effects of existence of regulatory choices available to the Member States.

In this context, the Commission adopted on 14 may 2014 the Report on the implementation of the Directive .

Cohesion Policy factsheets

The country-specific fact sheet highlights results that have been achieved so far and refers to selected projects from the 2007-2013 period. Looking ahead, it also contains information about the distribution of funding and the main investment priorities for the period of 2014-2020. The general fact sheet provides information, in the form of questions and answers, concerning the reform of Cohesion Policy in the new period. It explains the basic principles of the policy and provides contact details for further information and applications for funding.

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information/cohesion-policy-achievement-and-future-investment/index.cfm