What will the project aim to achieve?

The project will result in EU consumer organisations being able to improve their capacity to act on competition issues in a co-ordinated and cost-effective way by:

1.- Undertaking data collection for dissemination to competition authorities, consumer protection agencies and media.

2.- A nalysing markets for anti-competitive behaviour at national and EU levels.

3.- Increasing their expert involvement in competition policy decision making processes at national and EU levels.

4.- Providing competition authorities with a consumer welfare analysis of competition for investigations at national and EU levels.

5.- Undertaking effective advocacy and lobbying for competition and increasing consumer demand for competitive markets.

- The data, consumer welfare analyses and best practicerecommendations will be used to engage with competition authorities in an effective, constructive and sustainable relationship.

- The data will also be made available to consumer organisations that publish comparative product surveys or related articles, magazines or websites.

- A report of the research findings will be launched
  simultaneously in all countries in co-ordination withBEUC   (the European consumer organisation).

- There will be a consumer summit at the end of the project to disseminate the research results and recommendations to relevant policy makers, retailers, consumer organisations, academics and NGOs.

- The results of the research will be published in a manual to inform and empower the wider consumer movement to undertake similar research and advocacy work.