Battle to stop consumer budget cuts

Date: 03/10/1996

CONSUMER protection, one of the European Commission's Cinderella sectors, appears to have fought a successful rearguard action to prevent its 1997 budget being almost halved.

The European Parliament's powerful budget committee is poised to call for funding for the Directorate-General for consumer affairs (DGXXIV) to be set at around 20 million ecu.

EU finance ministers have proposed slashing the Union's consumer protection budget, insisting funding be cut to a maximum of 12 million ecu next year, down from 20.6 million ecu this year. The Commission had asked for 18.1 million ecu.

Hopes of a reprieve have been fuelled by a call from the Parliament's environment and consumer affairs committee for DGXXIV's funding to rise to 21 million ecu in 1997.

The budget committee is expected to give its broad support to the move when it debates the Commission's overall budget for the first time this week and takes a final decision next Thursday (10 October).

“The Council has been irresponsible in trying to cut consumer funding by so much,” said Ken Collins, chairman of the Parliament's environment and consumer affairs committee. “You cannot say you have a serious consumer affairs policy in Europe when you cut the budget in such a way.”

In a similar tussle last year, the Council of Ministers backed down and accepted the budget committee's increased demands after a first round of discussions.

Ministers could still force a second round of discussions between themselves, the Commission, and Parliament this year. Horse-trading between EU institutions is a familiar part of the annual funding battle.

But this year, the intra-institutional battle is fiercer, with the Commission expecting all but one of its

24 directorates-general, agriculture, to cut spending.

The Commission's envisaged 18.1-million-ecu funding for DGXXlV would be split into two areas: 10.1 million ecu for projects and 8 million ecu for information campaigns.

The boosted budget for pan-European information campaigns has laid the directorate-general open to attack, even from some of its closest supporters who back increased funding.

BEUC, which groups Europe's national consumer associations, says Commission funding of key consumer studies is suffering as a result.

Commission officials admit that their recent radio publicity campaigns to raise public awareness of EU action to promote consumer rights on package travel and misleading advertising failed in some countries, but insist they will not make the same mistakes again.