Consumers - Related Opinions

With this opinion the EESC welcomes the package of measures to adapt copyright to the requirements of the digital economy, by aiming to eliminate fragmentation while, at the same time, enhancing protection for creators. The EESC supports the exclusive related right of publishers to authorise or prohibit the digital use of their press publications for a period of twenty years and urges to harmonise the "freedom of panorama" exception by means of European rules. The EESC also refers to the ECJ judgment stating that, under certain conditions, the lending of a digital copy of a book has similar characteristics to the lending of printed works.

In this opinion, the EESC calls for society to begin an economic transition from over-exploitation of resources and a throw-away culture to a more sustainable, job-rich era, based on quality rather than quantity. In order to cope with the fundamental shift to a new economic model with major systemic consequences in many areas, it is recommended that a new cross-cutting and permanent body be set up in the EESC to analyse these developments.

The CPC Regulation harmonises the cooperation framework between national authorities in the EU so that their enforcement action can cover the full dimension of the Single Market. The primary aim of the CPC Regulation is to ensure legal certainty in the Single Market via coherent enforcement of key Union consumer acquis. The EESC supports this proposal, considering it to be timely and its content to be well-argued and developed by applying the proposal to all stakeholders - consumers, businesses and national authorities and calling on the Commission to launch the coordination with the Member States needed to implement the measures and to extend the scope of the coordinated actions.