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Public Policy Updates

• February 2008
• June 2007
• January 2007

February 2008

• 1. New ICC/ESOMAR International Code
• 2. The European Commission’s Data Privacy Working Party
• 3. The EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices
• 4. The EU Audiovisual Media Services Directive
• 5. European Commission White Paper on Obesity
• 6. EU developing policy on RFID and e-privacy
• 7. EU developing policy on children’s privacy issues
• 8. Ensuring ISO 20252 compliance from subcontractors
• 9. Huge fines for silent calls in the UK
• 10. US House approves Do-Not-Call improvement legislation
• 11. US push for registry of drug makers’ gifts to doctors
• 12. Victory for issue polling in Florida
• 13. Global data storage and retention
• 14. Political robocalls, ADAD and IVR

Further information

For more information please contact Anna Alù:

a.alu@esomar.org

Public Policy Update - February 2008

 

3. Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices

This aims to harmonise national laws protecting consumers against unfair commercial practices, misleading marketing and advertising communications and aggressive sales techniques including high pressure selling. The two defining criteria for unfair commercial practice are:

• If it is contrary to the special skill and care which a trader may reasonably be expected to exercise in line with honest market practice, and
• If it can appreciably impair the consumer’s ability to make an informed decision causing them to take a transactional decision they would have otherwise not have taken.

Next steps: The Directive should have been implemented in the EU by December 2007 but as 13 states have still to adapt their legislation, the Commission is tracking national transposition. It covers business-to-consumer commercial practices and ESOMAR will check if it is sufficiently explicit to prohibit traders posing as market researchers.

More information

• http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/rights/index_en.htm

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