How can consumer research contribute to effective consumer policy? ConPolicy’s Managing Director, Prof. Dr Christian Thorun, discussed this question with a delegation from the Committee for the Promotion of Competition and the Protection of Consumer Rights of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The discussion centred on a conviction that also shapes our work at ConPolicy: Good consumer policy requires research throughout the policy cycle: where and to what extent do consumer problems exist? What are their causes? Which instruments are suitable for addressing them? And finally: has a measure that has been adopted actually achieved its objective? Consumer research can make an important contribution throughout the entire cycle – from identifying a problem, through developing and testing suitable instruments, to evaluating their impact.
In addition, the participants discussed how consumer policy is shaped in Germany and Uzbekistan. It became clear that, whilst institutional structures cannot be directly transferred from one country to another, the commitment to evidence-based policy-making and the assessment of its impact is relevant across national borders.
The visit to ConPolicy took place as part of a week-long specialist programme on consumer protection and competition policy. Whilst in Berlin, the delegation held talks with, amongst others, the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the Federal Network Agency, Stiftung Warentest, the German Bundestag and the German Retail Association (HDE). The visit was funded by the German Savings Banks Foundation.