Cooperation in the ECC Network

At the European Consumer Centre we focus on individual consumer disputes with the aim of settling consumer claims in cross-border trade. We are not a public authority, so we cannot order a vendor or a service provider to pay restitution or compensation due to a breach of an agreement.

What we do try to do is to reach an arrangement in the matters we deal with.  In some cases, we may refer you to an alternative dispute resolution entity (ADR entity), a body outside the judicial system and usually located in the EU Member State in which you bought the product or service in question.

The Finnish office of the European Consumer Centre collaborates closely with its counterparts in other European countries. Each country’s consumer centres form a network with the European Consumer Centres Network(ECC Net), which is overseen and co-financed by the European Commission. The ECC Network in its current form was founded in 2005.

The ECC Network was contacted more than 150 000 times by European consumers in 2020. The most common enquiries concern e-commerce and air travel. The Network produces data on cross-border trade phenomena that it identifies and related problems for the European Commission and the EU’s Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) network.