A look abroad shows that consumer interest representation can be institutionalized in many different ways. While in Germany consumer interests are primarily represented by (government financed) private organisations, the situation is very different in most of the other EU Member States and the USA. Here the governments only marginally finance private organisations. At the same time public authorities play a much more forceful role in consumer protection and enforcement. The objective of this workshop is to better understand how consumer interest representation is institutionalized in other EU Member States, how effectively interests of consumers are represented and enforced in other consumer protection regimes and where the strengths and weaknesses of the Germany system lay. The workshop is conducted by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung with technical support by ConPolicy. Guests are: Marie-Luise Altmutter from the European Commission, Anita Vegter, Board Member of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, Henrik Saugmandsgaard Øe, Danish Consumer Ombudsman, Dr Rainer Metz from the German Federal Consumer Protection Ministry (BMELV) and Dr Holger Krawinkel from the German Federation of Consumer Organisations.
