The relationship between a consumer and a producer used to be very clear, with set roles, rights and responsibilities. The sharing economy now changes the form and role that each party plays in the market, creating a lot more uncertainty.

The Alternative Dispute Resolution Center in the Banking Sector solved a dispute between a consumer and the bank in just 9 days. The fastest procedure ever.

“I have lost 10 kilos over the last year”, an energetic insurance lobbyist told me last week. He told me that his smart watch had registered all the calories he had managed to shed. “Don’t I deserve a cut in my health insurance premium now?”, he asked me. Well, no” I told him.

At the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Rome Treaty which is the foundation of the present European Union, the Luxembourg Prime Minister insisted that “the EU largely contributed to improve citizens’ daily life”. What does it mean for consumer protection?

Whether or not you are a trade aficionado or aficionada, you have likely noticed the glaring headlines about free trade deals between the European Union and Canada or the United States. A root cause of the controversy around these deals is that they allow investors to bring lawsuits against states for measures that (supposedly) impact their investments. At BEUC, we think this approach endangers legislation made in the interest of consumers.

Sylvia Maurer, Sustainability and Safety Department Director at the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) knows well what it takes for a product to be just as good as to survive a two-year legal guarantee period. The question she tries to answer is: “Can we do any better?”