Consumer law in Europe

When you run a business in the European Union (EU), you must provide potential customers with information about your products.

There are EU consumer laws that govern:

• what product information you should make available
• the sort of language you should use
• what information should be provided on food labelling

There are also rules on false - or misleading - advertising of products. As a business owner, you need to understand these rules, so that you can make sure you comply with them.

Different European Economic Area (EEA) countries may have national laws on consumer information which you also need to know. For example, in France if the price tag on an item is incorrect, the customer has a legal right to buy the item for that price. In other countries - such as Portugal - this is not the case.

If your business is based in the UK and you want to set up in another EEA country, you should contact your local Chamber of Commerce for detailed information. 

Businesses in the UK can get support from Innovate UK EDGE (which operates as Enterprise Europe Network EU countries).