In order to achieve that objective, it is necessary to strengthen the scope for action, particularly through appropriate financial support to Union-level consumer organisations and European consumer centres, taking into account their major role in providing information and assistance to consumers about their rights, supporting consumers in consumer disputes, in particular with regard to access to appropriate dispute resolution mechanisms, and promoting consumer interests in the proper functioning of the internal market.

31. Notes that the digitalisation of services may mean that consumers who, for various reasons, cannot access or use the internet could find themselves in a situation of vulnerability, as they cannot take full advantage of the benefits of online commerce and are therefore excluded from a substantial part of the internal market, paying more for the same products or being dependent on assistance from others; calls on the Commission and the Member States to boost consumer confidence while overcoming barriers to cross-border e-commerce through the development of an effective policy which pays special attention to the needs of vulnerable con ...[+++]sumers in all measures intended to close the digital divide; calls on the Member States and the Commission to accelerate the delivery of the European Digital Agenda to the benefit of all EU citizens and consumers; stresses that efforts from the community at large and from enterprises in particular should be encouraged in order to inform vulnerable consumers, including senior consumers, and to enable them to take full advantage of the benefits of digitalisation;

38. Stresses the major role consumer associations play in circulating information to consumers about their rights, supporting consumers in consumer disputes, and promoting consumer interests in the construction of the internal market;

40. Emphasises that the effective implementation and enforcement of EU consumer protection rules acts as a driver for increasing consumer confidence and as a forceful deterrent to businesses seeking to evade those rules; calls on the Commission to closely monitor, and help Member States with, the transposition and implementation of the EU consumer acquis; invites the Commission, in that context, to explore options, using the legal basis provided by Article 169 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, for raising the profile of consumer protection policy through measures that support and supplement Member State policies, ...[+++]potentially including the creation of a European Consumer Agency;

Specific actions targeted at young consumers, old consumers and vulnerable groups of consumers who are clearly less able to defend their interests, and the development of interactive tools for consumer education.

The aim of the organisation is to enforce consumers' rights; to expose infringements affecting consumers; safeguard consumers' interests; raise awareness of consumers' rights; support consumer protection activities carried out by the state and other bodies; to extend consumers' rights, and take steps to make protection more effective.