Europe and Me

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Europe and Me
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Getting us a fair deal?

• The European Union

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An Expensive Holiday
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While on holiday, Sacha catches upwith friends
from home
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He leaves his laptop switched on
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Back home, a few weeks later, Sacha cant believe
the size of the bill for hisInternet use
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How can we have transparent rates across the EU?
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Internet Use in Europe
0-50 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-100 Non EU
Source Eurostat February 2008
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Did you know?

• A man in the UK received a 13,200 euro bill after
  his wife downloaded four episodes of Friends
  through his mobile phone. Had she downloaded the
  programmes in UK, it would have been free. But
  after starting the download in the UK, she flew
  on to Germany and finished it there, where the
  roaming data fees for mobile broadband are much
  higher.
• (Source Broadband Watchdog, 3 March 2008).

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Did you know?

• An English solicitor who watched TV shows from
  the UK over the internet while on holiday
  returned home to a bill for 5,880 euros from her
  mobile phone company. During a long weekend on
  the French Riviera, she decided to catch up on
  the latest episodes of some of her favourite TV
  shows, using the BBCs iPlayer service. She
  downloaded the programme to her laptop computer
  using a Vodafone 3G card, which enables fast
  internet access. What she didnt realise was
  that, in common with most other telecoms firms,
  her supplier charges a much higher rate outside
  the UK.
• (Source Daily Telegraph)

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Did you know?

• Roaming is when you make or receive a mobile
  phone call abroad. It is usually more expensive
  than when you are at home because the foreign
  network makes an additional charge.
• The EU Roaming Regulation sets a ceiling on
  roaming charges for mobile phone calls made or
  received within the EU. It came into force in
  2007. This ceiling is called the Eurotariff, and
  it can lower your roaming charges by up to 60.
• The problem is that, currently, this regulation
  does not cover SMS and data roaming services
  such as sending a text message or downloading
  data in another country.

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Did you know?

• The EU Distance Selling Directive sets EU-wide
  standards for buying and selling things at a
  distance, e.g., by mail order, TV shopping
  channels, email or the internet.
• These include requiring the seller to
• tell you the full price of what you want to buy,
  including taxes and delivery charges
• tell you about your right to cancel the contract
  if you wish and how you go about this
• give you a 7-day cooling-off period from the day
  after you receive the goods, in case you want to
  cancel the order and return them.

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Did you know?

• The EU has introduced a range of measures to
  protect consumers including
• a two-year guarantee on all goods sold in the EU
• safety standards on goods like toys, electrical
  appliances, cosmetics and household products
• rules to prevent misleading advertisements.

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Did you know?

• The European Commission has set up a European
  Consumer Centre (ECC) in every Member State.
  These centres give you free advice on your rights
  as a consumer and help you to handle your
  consumer complaints especially when you have
  made a cross-border purchase.
• Michel, who lives in France, bought a digital
  camera from a German website. He paid 300 in
  advance and was told the camera had been sent
  through the post. But it never arrived. Michel
  tried to contact the trader several times but,
  when he got no response, he turned for help to
  the European Consumer Centre (ECC) in France. The
  French ECC contacted the German online consumer
  body, which was able to go straight to the
  trader. As the trader had no proof of postage, he
  had to provide Michel with a new camera.