Wednesday afternoon in the Autoworld started with Commissioner Kuneva's meeting with Consumer networks. This part of the Summit was not open to all participants, but only to members of the Consumer Policy Networks, European Consumer Centres, Consumer Enforcement Networks, European Consumer Consultative Groups, and a few more invited people like press representatives and consumers, including me. The meeting's primary goal was to give the members of the aforementioned organisations a chance to share best practices and to examine challenges and opportunities for consumer policies for the next five years. The results of this meeting will have a direct effect on the consumer policies created by the Commission in the near future.
The meeting was moderated by Ms. Jacqueline Minor. A representant of each of the aforementioned networks had about 15-minute presentation about their network and then there was space for questions and comments.
At the end of this meeting, around 14:30, Commissioner Kuneva addressed the audience as well and then everyone had a chance to ask the Commissioner questions.
Outside the conference room, a fair was going on during the whole Summit. Each of the organisations involved in the meeting had a stand there and everyone was able to ask the representatives questions. It was also a great opportunity to get to know other people; I was able to talk to representatives of the Danish and French Consumer Centres, the head of the ECC network, representatives of EASA - the European Advertising Standards Alliance - and quite a few more. I learned a lot about how these networks work, what situations they can (and can not) help in, and - probably most importantly - I learned how much work solving a single case takes, and how many people must be involved.
The second part of the afternoon was dominated by two workshops, open to all participants of the Summit.
The first workshop continued where the Commissioner's meeting with consumer networks ended. The major topics included new challenges online (especially collection of online data and targetting of advertisements), applications and enforcement of the regulatory framework, and consumer awarness, trust, and their knowledge of their legal rights.
The second workshop of the day concentrated on consumer advocacy, especially at how consumer organisations adapt to the digital world.
The day ended with a cocktail in the fair area and a dinner with the Commissioner. The dinner was served at the ground floor in the Autoworld, among all those beautiful cars. The cars were lit by blue lights, the tablecloths were blue, and each table was lit by twelve yellow lights, each in the shape of stars. Each table thus looked like the flag of the European Union, which was very stylish.
The atmosphere at the dinner and the dinner itself was excellent. We had a starter, calf ribs with mashed potatoes and vegetables were served as the main course, and we ended with ice cream. Variety of drinks were served, including still and sparkling water, coffee, and blue and red wine.
The dinner concluded the first day of the Summit.
Copyright notice: Text and images copyright by Michal Řeháček.