First consumer markets scoreboard. Commission staff working document accompany the communication on monitoring consumer outcomes in the single market.

Abstract

Data on the number of consumer complaints constitute a key indicator of markets failing to deliver against consumers' expectations. In some Member States, public authorities and other third party organisations (enforcement bodies, consumer NGOs, self-regulatory bodies, etc) collect data on consumer complaints and use them as an indicator of market malfunctioning and subsequent policy action. However, at present, data collection takes place in a non-harmonised manner meaning there are no benchmarks and cross-country comparisons are not possible. In the absence of a more harmonised system, existing data on the number of cross-border complaints collected by the ECC network, evidence from surveys1 on the numbers of consumers who have made complaints and their satisfaction with complaint handling and possible further action, as well as sector-specific complaints for a number of services of general interest are presented in the Scoreboard.