Today, the European Parliament approved an own-initiative report on the transposition, implementation and enforcement of Directive 2005/29/ЕC on unfair commercial practices in the internal market, and Directive 2006/114/Е on comparative and misleading advertising.

"Unfair commercial practices are a serious challenge for consumer confidence in the internal market. The key to protecting consumer rights lies in good and adequate information", said Nickolay Mladenov MEP, EPP-ED Shadow Rapporteur. Both Directives aim at limiting practices that undermine consumer confidence, particularly as far as trans-border transactions are concerned.

The report includes a number of amendments tabled by the EPP-ED Group calling for the uniform transposition, implementation and enforcement of both Directives across Member States. It calls for raising awareness among consumers about which practices should be considered misleading or unfair and asks for 'black lists' of traders to be established at a European level. "Consumers should be well aware of their rights and what the remedy mechanisms are, especially in cross-border transactions. The network of European Consumer Centres should play a more prominent role in this process", concluded Mladenov.

The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive came into force at the end of 2007, while existing EU legislation on comparative and misleading advertising was updated in the course of 2006.