Effective Consumer Protection in Bulgaria Requires Civic Society

The level of the consumer protection system in Bulgaria corresponds to the moment of this country’s accession to the EU and it is not realistic for a month of membership the Bulgarian level to be identical with that of Denmark, for example, where civic society is developed to a much higher degree, Bulgarian Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told journalists from Rousse Monday in Bucharest.

Kuneva gave a news conference after a meeting with Romanian state institutions and answered questions concerning domestic problems of the market.

According to Kuneva, the consumer protection system in some of the newly accepted countries is developing successfully and she quoted Hungary as a positive example.

The Commissioner for Consumer Protection spoke of the relatively new European system for early warning of hazardous goods on the market. Following signals and checks, it is used to warn citizens not to buy the hazardous products, whereby they protect themselves but also punish the one who has manufactured the bad goods.

Germany ranks first in the European system as regards the number of complaints, Hungary is second with 160. There are 18 in Romania and two in Bulgaria, Kuneva said. This means that if the citizens do not believe in themselves first there will be no one to develop an effective system, she added.

The state is required to educate, to pass on positive experience, to create free telephone posts for complaints and to set aside funds for the operation of the organisations, but it is the citizens who have to exert their pressure, Kuneva underscored.

BTA