The EU Regulation on Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC)
The Danish Consumer Ombudsman is appointed central enforcement authority and is also the national liaison office under the abovementioned Regulation. This means that the DCO is responsible for how the Regulation is applied and for the coordination of contact between a number of Danish authorities and the EU.
The regulation is applicable to violations of EC directives as implemented in national law and regulations which protect the collective rights of consumers.
This means that all Member States appoint authorities to undertake obligations under the regulation. These must be public authorities with the competence to enforce consumer protection legislation, i.e. that they have the right to require relevant papers and documents, to request extra information, to demand or issue an injunction following a violation, to have funds and means confiscated etc.
This means that if a private enterprise from another EU member country, say France, violates one of the EU acts included under the Regulation in Denmark, the competent authority in Denmark may request the corresponding authority in France to see to it that the violation ceases to occur - and vice versa.
See the legal text of the EU Regulation on Consumer Protection Cooperation.
Enforcement activities under the regulation
The Consumer Ombudsman takes part in the joint investigation of problems known to occur in all Member States, also knowns as 'sweeps'. 'Sweeps' are internet-based investigations which typically highligt problems in specific sectors.
2010 - Tickets for cultural events and sports events
2009 - Electronic goods
2008 - Mobile phone content services
2007 - Airline tickets
You can find more information about the abovementioned sweeps at the DG Health and Consumer's website (www.ec.europa.eu). For more specific information regarding DCO enforcement and activities, please browse the press releases issued by the DCO concerning the sweeps.
Directives under DCO supervision in Denmark
1. Council Directive 84/450/EEC of 10 September 1984 relating to the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning misleading advertising
2. Council Directive 85/577/EEC of 20 December 1985 to protect the consumer in respect of contracts negotiated away from business premises.
3. Council Directive 87/102/EEC of 22 December 1986 for the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning consumer credit
4. Council Directive 90/314/EEC of 13 June 1990 on package travel, package holidays and package tours
5. Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts
6. Directive 94/47/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 1994 on the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating to the purchase of the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis
7. Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 1997 on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts
8. Directive 97/55/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 October 1997 amending Directive 84/450/EEC concerning misleading advertising so as to include comparative advertising
9. Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 on consumer protection in the indication of the prices of products offered to consumers
10. Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees
11. Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce)
12. Directive 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2002 concerning the distance marketing of consumer financial services
13. Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market (at eur-lex.europa.eu)