European Consumer Centre in Malta

MALTA will soon have its own European Consumer Centre (ECC). In fact, tomorrow at 11a.m., the Minister for Competitiveness and Communications, Censu Galea, will address a press conference at the Consumer and Competition Division, Cannon Road, St Venera, on the official opening of Malta's ECC.

What is a European Consumer Centre, you may ask.

Well, when European consumers visit other EU countries, the ECCs in the respective countries can provide them with information, advice, and assistance about problems with goods and services which they buy in EU countries. All ECCs interact with and help each other. Thus ECCs can help consumers who have a problem to contact the trader or traders in the respective countries to try and put things right.

The ECC's network is there to help with such problems to ensure that European consumers feel as confident when shopping in any other EU country as they do at home. Indeed, the objective is that eventually all EU countries will have an ECC to provide consumers with a wide range of services, from information on their rights to giving advice and assistance with their complaints and the resolution of disputes.

Finally, I am honoured to be so closely involved in this project by being appointed director of Malta's European Consumer Centre. I take the opportunity to thank Minister Censu Galea, Marcel Pizzuto, director-general, Consumer and Competition Division (CCD), and Barbara Buttigieg, director, information and client affairs at the CCD for their support in this project.