The European Commission has just published three more Fact Sheets on various topics directly related to issues commonly faced by consumers. As part of an ongoing information campaign on consumer rights, the European Commission has already released seven Fact Sheets on various specific topics.

The new Fact Sheets which have just been released include 'Your rights when using phone services ', providing information on consumer rights in the telecommunications sector with regard to both fixed line and mobile phone services, as well as information on the EU's recent rules on roaming.

A second new Fact Sheet, entitled 'Steps you may take to assert your consumer rights', provides information on the steps consumers should take in situations such as those when they are not satisfied with a product they have just bought or in cases when they have problems with goods or services purchased from another EU country.

 The third Fact Sheet, ' Know your rights when making cross-border payments ', informs consumers about their rights when, for example, they withdraw euros from an automated teller machine (ATM) in another EU member state with their Maltese card, or when transferring euro from a Maltese bank account to an account in another EU country.

Personality Ray Calleja, who is the face of the European Commission’s consumers’ rights campaign in Malta, is also visually displayed in the branding of the fact sheets. The European Commission’s campaign on consumers’ rights is an objective and entertaining campaign that seeks to educate and inform the public about their consumer rights as EU citizens and seeks to encourage consumers to assert these rights.
The fact sheets are printed in Maltese and are available from the Consumer House in South Street Valletta, the Forum Malta fl-Ewropa in Republic Street, the European Commission Representation in Ta’ Xbiex, the Consumer and Competition Division in St Venera, the European Parliament Office in Valletta and the Europe Direct offices in Floriana. The Fact Sheets were also distributed to shoppers in Sliema and Valletta in December.

An electronic version of the Fact Sheets, available in both Maltese and English, can be downloaded from the information campaign web pages within the website of the Consumers’ Association on www.camalta.org.

As part of the consumers’ rights information campaign, the European Commission has also distributed a tailor made publication on consumers’ rights door to door to over 150,000 households in Malta and Gozo. A special publication which will focus on the obligations of the business community towards consumers will also be distributed to all businesses in April.