Signal
A test result, a survey finding or a run of member complaints flags a practice worth acting on.
Rules only count when they are applied. When a company ignores them we act — first at the table, then, if nothing moves, in front of a court or a regulator.
Escalation is a corporate affairs judgement as much as a legal one. Before we file we weigh the market signal it sends, the precedent it sets and the number of consumers it reaches — and we would rather change a company policy than win a single refund.
A test result, a survey finding or a run of member complaints flags a practice worth acting on.
We build the evidence: lab data, contract analysis, and how far the practice reaches across the six markets.
The company hears it from us privately first, with a proposed fix and a deadline attached.
If nothing moves: a public position, a complaint to the regulator, or a claim filed by our qualified entities.
Each rung costs more, takes longer and reaches further than the one before it. Most cases stop at the first two.
Claims brought on behalf of a group of consumers for compensation, coordinated across markets.
Highest reachCourt orders to stop an unlawful practice, filed by our qualified entities under the RAD.
Stops the practiceFormal submissions to national authorities and the CPC network when a market-wide rule is broken.
Fastest routeNegotiated agreements that change a company policy — and cover the consumers already affected.
Most commonFilter by the kind of action. Every case here was opened by one or more of our national member organisations, coordinated centrally so one infringement can be challenged in several markets at once.
Settlement
Closed
Firmware updates blocked cartridges consumers had already bought. After a year of letters and negotiation, HP agreed a settlement covering affected buyers in five countries.
Collective redress
Ongoing
Owners in our four European markets were left out of the deals struck elsewhere. Our members are pursuing compensation for them, market by market, on one shared legal analysis.
Product safety
Closed
Our members' testing showed the sensor could be unlocked with an unregistered finger. We put the evidence to Google in writing twice and pressed for a fix for every owner.
Company practice
Ongoing
The programme launched with conditions that keep independent repair difficult. We asked Apple to answer a specific list of questions about parts, pricing and documentation.
Regulator complaint
Closed
Altroconsumo challenged how fares were presented in the app and asked for the practice to be changed, with the national authority copied in.
Company practice
Closed
The opening letter in the Dynamic Security case, sent on behalf of consumers in five countries and published in full at the time.
Collective redress
Closed
Altroconsumo's class action ended with Volkswagen ordered to pay more than €200m to Italian owners — the largest consumer judgment ever obtained by one of our members.
Collective redress
Closed
OCU's claim on behalf of Spanish owners was upheld, confirming that a national court will hold the manufacturer to account market by market.
Collective redress
Ongoing
Filed over software updates that slowed older iPhones, on behalf of owners who were never told what the update would do to their device.
Regulator complaint
Closed
After sustained pressure from our members, the EU Commission and the CPC network issued a joint statement calling on Volkswagen to compensate European consumers.
Company practice
Closed
A formal demand on behalf of consumers in five countries to stop practices that shorten the usable life of a device, with the requests set out in full.
Collective redress
Closed
The Regional Administrative Court confirmed that personal data carries economic value, a judgment our member obtained and one that reaches far beyond the case.
The company hears it from us privately first, with the evidence and a proposed fix attached. These are the letters behind the cases above — published as we sent them.
All publications
The national organisations do. Test Achats, Altroconsumo, OCU, DECO Proteste and Proteste are the ones recognised in their own legal systems, several of them as qualified entities under the Representative Actions Directive. Euroconsumers builds the shared evidence and legal analysis so the same infringement can be challenged in several markets at once.
An organisation designated by a member state to bring representative actions on behalf of consumers — for injunctions to stop a practice, or for redress. It is what allows a consumer organisation to act where an individual would never litigate alone.
Four questions: how many consumers are affected, how strong the evidence is, what precedent a ruling would set, and whether the company has already refused a reasonable fix. Litigation is the last rung, not the first.
Yes, when the settlement delivers more for consumers than a judgment would, and faster. We publish what was agreed so anyone affected can check whether it applies to them.
Contact your national organisation rather than us. They handle individual complaints, know your market and your law, and are the ones who spot when many complaints add up to a case.
The letters we send and the settlements we reach are published. Pleadings in live proceedings are not, while the case is running.
Reporting an infringement, coordinating a cross-border claim, or writing about a case? These are the people who own this work.
Group Manager Advocacy, Enforcement & Communication
Owns the enforcement strategy: which cases we open, how far we take them, and when we settle.
els.bruggeman@euroconsumers.org LinkedIn profile
Advocacy Officer
Coordinates evidence and legal analysis with the national organisations on a live case.
olivia.brown@euroconsumers.org LinkedIn profile
Corporate Affairs & Public Relations Director
Institutional relations and press: interviews, quotes and anything on the record about a case.
marco.pierani@euroconsumers.org LinkedIn profileIndividual complaints are handled by your national organisation — Test Achats, Altroconsumo, OCU, DECO Proteste or Proteste. They know your market and your law.
Find your organisation