The few consumer lobby groups that exist in Malta are not considered to be as strong and organised as others in the EU and the European Commission is closely monitoring the situation.
Brussels will soon publish recommendations for a stronger consumer lobby on the island.
Last year the Commission included Malta in an ongoing study called Analyses Of Consumer Markets In Central, Eastern And South Eastern Europe.
The study, conducted under the Training for Consumer Empowerment Programme (TRACE), is also evaluating the situation in Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Cyprus.
“We have been trying to encourage more consumer awareness in Malta and some progress has been made, particularly with the opening of the European Consumers Centre and the Competition and Consumers Affairs Authority,” a Commission official said.
“However, on the ground, the voice of Maltese consumers is still weak. Consumer organisations in Europe are much more organised and vociferous in their campaigns,” the official said.
Strengthening consumer rights across the EU was underlined during the presentation of the new European Consumer Agenda, which sets the European Commission’s priorities until 2014, to boost consumer rights across all member states.
The action plan includes introducing laws to reinforce consumer safety, enhancing knowledge to cope with the increasing complexity of markets, improving enforcement and redress and aligning policy to societal change and making it relevant to daily life.
European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said the EU would strive to bring consumer rights into the digital age to stimulate online cross-border shopping, one of the sector’s major growth areas.
“It takes more than new laws to make the digital single market work for consumers,” she said.
“Member states need to step up the swift and non-bureaucratic implementation of EU rules so that consumer rights become a concrete reality for our 500 million consumers.”
Health and Consumer Affairs Commissioner John Dalli said the strategy would empower consumers and build confidence by giving them the tools to actively take part in the market.
It is estimated consumer expenditure generates 56 per cent of GDP in the EU.
European consumers already enjoy some of the strongest rights and protection in the world, whether shielding them from unsafe products, misleading advertising, unpredictable roaming costs, dubious practices online or supporting them when things go wrong.