Brussels hosted last 12 March the second meeting of the European Commission (EC) Group of Experts on Consumer Complaints, which advises the EC on the development of a study whose aim is to produce a harmonised classification of consumer complaints that will serve as the basis for a future Recommendation on this matter.
At this meeting the EC reviewed the current status of the ongoing project, stressing that complaint handling is of the utmost importance, specifically due to its impact on the political debate and agenda. The EC also noted that future complaints databases should be co-ordinated with existing ones for consumer policy at various levels, both national and community-wide.
The Gartner consultancy also detailed progress on the study being produced for this project. It encompasses thirty members of the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) and 711 bodies, providing an overview of the entities that handle complaints. Gartner will continue its work in order to consolidate a comprehensive view of how complaint-handling bodies function in Europe, and has meanwhile completed visits to five member States: France, Germany, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
