Service liability and safety
The European Commission, DG XXIV, has published an invitation to tender for a study exploring the needs, scope, options and possible content for Community action in the field of service safety and liability. The study should mainly deal with the economic and practical aspects in this field. The main objective of the study is to provide factual and legal elements to allow the Commission to assess the scope for action in the field of service safety at Community level. The Commission's assessment will be done in the perspective of the internal market and of consumer protection with attention to the implications of the subsidiarity principle. Criteria for deciding which service sectors are justified for consideration at Community level in terms of service safety and liability, taking into account Community competencies, subsidiarity and proportionality, should be established by the study. In addition, criteria for the identification of practical problems encountered by consumers in these sectors, and for identifying service sectors in the EU for which service safety and liability represents a significant issue should also be established. The study should also apply the said criteria, collect data and perform a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the priority service sectors to be considered. The assessment shall cover the market situation with particular reference to intra-Community exchanges. In this respect as much statistical data as possible will be assembled. It will take into account consumers demand of services from suppliers and the supply of services to consumers established in Member States other than their own. For further information, please contact: European Commission DG XXIV - Consumer policy Unit A.4 200 rue de la Loi B-1049 Brussels Fax +32-2-2991858