About us

Our Mission

The network of 30 European Consumer Centres’ (ECCs) empowers consumers to know their rights and to take full advantage of the opportunities the Single Market offers.

How we accomplish our mission

The ECC-Net‘s legal experts assist consumers to solve their cross-border problems free of charge by providing strong legal expertise. The network offers a unique overview and reliable information about consumer affairs in the Internal Market which can be used for policy making in collaboration with European and national stakeholders.

In practical terms, in the case of disputes between consumers and traders, ECC-Net aims at finding compromises, we don’t have any enforcement powers.

We can:

  • Advise you on consumer rights for shopping and travel under EU and national law;
  • Give practical tips to help you avoid problems;
  • Help you with a complaint against a trader based in another EU country, Iceland, UK or Norway for purchases made abroad – physically or online;
  • Engage with the trader in order to try to resolve the problem;
  • Advise you on further action if an amicable solution is not possible, such as out-of-court settlements, the European Small Claims’ procedure, or other legal action;
  • Help you find a suitable organisation to handle your case if it needs to be taken further.

We cannot:

  • Force traders to act. We rely on persuasion which works in at least half of the cases;
  • Act as your legal representative;
  • Handle your complaint if one of the involved parties is outside of the EU, Norway, UK and Iceland.

How to access our services?