Assistance to the MIT in the development of the ADR system
Being a member of the stakeholder´s ADR project working group the ECC was involved especially in the promotion of the system. A.o. ECC printed out 130 000 flyers Out-of-court resolution of consumer disputes in the Czech Republic (in Czech, English, German versions). ECC significantly assisted in the dissemination of the flyer. At the same time the flyer with the ECC Net logo, ECC functions and contacts on its backside promoted widely the ECC.
The ADR system was launched in April 2008 and it seems that the promotional campaign was successful - by the end of 2008 year 1077 cases were solved.
The system enables to solve even the crossboarder disputes and the ECC assisted in creating conditions that the system might fill this function.
Assistance to the consumers
- Number of given advice and answered information requests fell down a bit in 2008 comparing with 2007 year – up to 208 cases (from 214 cases in 2007 year).
- Number of solved consumer complaints and disputes increased in 12 % - up to 213 cases (from 190 cases in 2007).
- Bilingual ECC website and its contents was one of the most effective and most successful form how to inform consumers. Comparing with 2007 year the number of visitors more than doubled – up to 23 075 visitors in 2008. The objective to reach 1 400 visitors per month in 2008 year was highly overcome.
- ECC worked out, published and disseminated the flyer Air passenger rights (10 000 pcs).
- We shared our experience in the lectures and discusions in the international workshops in Budapest (on ADR system), in Stockholm (on Air passenger rights), as well as in the discussions with the representative of Lithuanian surveillance authority, Civic Belarus Association, Thai ministry delegation (the MIT´s guests).
- For the better information of the consumers in another MS we used the meeting of the MIT with Commercial Counsellors of the Czech Embassies in the EU MS - ECC presentation, dissemination of materials, contacts to ECC website.
Promotional activities
- The ECC participated in the European contest on Best consumer campaign in 2007 year, organized by the Commission on the occasion of the Consumer Day. We organized the national contest (nine projects received) and the winning campaign of the Czech TV in the programme Black Sheep was sent to the international contest in Brussels. (All the other ECC activities on the occasion of the Consumer Day 2008 were described in the letter to the Commission of 17 March.)
- ECC´s legal statements and solution proposals to the most frequent consumer crossboarder complaints were repeatedly broadcasted in Czech TV – in Black Sheep programme.
- Other eight articles, press releases and interviews were published in newspapers, through Czech Press Agency and in the Czech radio Radiozurnal, three lectures for CPOs and Europe Direct branches were realized.
- ECC Annual report 2007 was worked out and disseminated, CD with the ECC activities in 2008 (till August) was prepared.
ECC´s involvement in the Network and joint actions
- ECC director participated in the round table discussion with the CP Commissioner Kuneva at the Commission Representation in Prague on the occasion of her visit in the Czech Republic. A.o. her participation in the CP conference in Prague in February 2009, organized by the Law Faculty of the Charles University and held on the occasion of the Czech presidency, was discussed. The Commissioner promised to come, if a bit possible, when being invited.
- ECC advertised the ECCNet functions in the brochure EU at hand about the European nets in the Czech Republic, prepared by the Commission Representation in Prague, and participated in its dissemination.
- ECC translated the UEFA flyer Your rights are our goal on the occasion of the European football championship and published it even on the ministry´s homepage.
- We answered six Commission´s requests – questionnaires (in some cases with the assistance of the Ministry of Finance), thirteen network questions on the national transpositions of the EU directives (before the EU Law Compendium was published).
- We participated in ECCNet joint projects - on E-commerce, on ADR systems comparison, in updating the project on Shopping in Europe. Final results were published on our website.
- The ECC representative participated in all the ECCNet meetings in 2008, chaired the discussion on case handling protocol in the ECCNet Cooperation Day in Paris, we tested the IT tool complaint form.
- We realized the study visit in ECC Luxembourg.
- ECC cooperated with Czech Trade Inspection in the process of its delimitation from the MIT. All the bilingual documents from the ECC website on CD together with another useful documents, webpage addresses and contacts on DVD, as well as the main ECC activities in 2008 on CD, were handed over to the new Czech ECC in CTI. We transferred all the equipment paid from the ECC budget in the last years. In several meetings the case handling instructions and short IT tool training were offered to the new staff.