Retailers’ attitudes towards cross-border trade and consumer protection 2016 Final Report

Contract n° 2015 85 04 under FWC EAHC 2013/CP/03 Lot 2 -TNS Written by: TNS opinion Publication: 2017

Justice and Consumers

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Produced by Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (Chafea) on behalf of

Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers Unit E.03 (Economic Analysis and Evaluation) E-mail: [email protected] European Commission B-1049 Brussels

2017

Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers EU Consumer Programme

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Retailers’ attitudes towards cross-border trade and consumer protection 2016 Main Report

2017

Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers EU Consumer Programme

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION

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LEGAL NOTICE This report was produced under the EU Consumer Programme (2014-2020) in the frame of a specific contract with the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (Chafea) acting on behalf of the European Commission. The content of this report represents the views of the contractor and is its sole responsibility; it can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission and/or Chafea or any other body of the European Union. The European Commission and/or Chafea do not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this report, nor do they accept responsibility for any use made by third parties thereof.

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Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers EU Consumer Programme

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 6 KEY FINDINGS ............................................................................ 10 DETAILED RESULTS ..................................................................... 13 1.

Knowledge And Trust ...................................................................13 1.1. Retailers’ knowledge of consumer rights ...................................... 13 1.2. Trust of retailers....................................................................... 31

2.

Compliance and Enforcement .......................................................37 2.1. Unfair commercial practices ....................................................... 37 2.2. Compliance with consumer legislation ......................................... 56 2.3. Enforcement of consumer and product safety regulation ................ 66

3.

Complaints and Dispute Resolution ..............................................80 3.1 Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms ......................... 80 3.2 Consumer complaints ................................................................ 84

4.

Retailers in the Digital Single Market ......................................... 102 4.1. Domestic and cross-border online sales ..................................... 102 4.2. Drivers of, and barriers to e-commerce ..................................... 120

5.
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