EU membership provides Slovenian citizens with the opportunity to shop in any EU member state without having to pay customs. European legislation guarantees us high standards of product safety, prohibits misleading advertising practices, unfair sale practices and the like. When goods are purchased within the EU, the seller is obliged to provide you with basic information about the product, and European legislation also prohibits false claims about medicinal effects and false free offers.

Information and assistance in exercising consumer rights in the EU is provided by the European Consumer Centre (EPC), including the European Consumer Centre Slovenia. It provides consumers with free professional support in resolving complaints against foreign providers of goods and services from the EU Member States, Iceland, Norway or the United Kingdom.

The EPC can help you when:

• a tourist trip has not gone according to expectations,
• your rights as a passenger have been violated,
• you have unexpected costs when renting a vehicle,
• goods from another EU Member State, Iceland or Norway have not been delivered,
• you have problems asserting your rights related to warranty,
• you encounter problems when making purchases on a website registered in the EU,
• you have been discriminated against on the basis of nationality or place of residence in relation to access to a particular service,
• you need advice before deciding whether to buy goods or services from a foreign seller.

A condition for a complaint to be processed within the EPC network is that you yourself have not been successful in asserting your rights with the foreign provider.

You can contact EPC Slovenia for information or advice even before deciding to purchase something - when, for example, you want to familiarise yourself with European and national regulations in the field of consumer protection, or to make sure that a particular seller is credible, or after the purchase has been made, when you are in doubt regarding your rights or do not know how to exercise them with a foreign provider of goods and services from the EU, Iceland, Norway or the United Kingdom.

Over the past ten years, 300,000 consumers have contacted the EPC network for help, while more than 650,000 consumers have sought information and advice on consumer rights. The number of such contacts has grown by 30% in the past two years. The work of the EPC network has been strongly impacted by the growth of online sales in the last decade.

March 15 is World Consumer Rights Day and also the open door day of the European Consumer Centre Slovenia. This year, special attention is being paid to sustainable conduct in consumption.