ADR seminars for Baltic Sea countries
One of the main tasks of the centres belonging to the ECC-Network is to assist consumers with cross-border complaints and disputes arising from contracts between consumers and traders if the parties have not been able to settle the disputes by agreement. In case of disputes between a consumer and a trader who are not situated in the same Member State it is very important that the European Consumer Centres inform consumers about their possibilities to solve disputes in out-of court mechanisms such as ADRs (Alternative Dispute Resolution Bodies) and facilitate consumers to understand the advantages and disadvantages of these out-of-court mechanisms.
In order to provide consumers with relevant information about their possibilities to solve disputes in ADR, it is very important that the centres within the network exchange information about the domestic out-of-court bodies and provide each other the assistance in the development of ADR schemes. In purpose to exchange the information about the possibilities to solve cross-border complaints in out-of-court bodies and to strengthen the cooperation within the ECC-Network the 8 countries around the Baltic Sea organise every year the ADR seminar for Baltic Sea countries.
The first ADR seminar for Baltic Sea countries was organised by the ECC of Sweden, the Konsument Europa. The seminar was held in Stockholm in May 2005 with the aim to create awareness on how the ADR bodies work, what kind of cases they try and how they are functioning. With more knowledge of good solutions and best practices the ECCs can influence the policy makers and assist their respective countries in developing ADR schemes.
The seminar brought together the representatives from European Consumer Centres in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
The second ADR seminar for Baltic Sea countries was held on the 13th of October 2006 in Tallinn, organised by the ECC Estonia (EL tarbija nõustamiskeskus). The aim of the second Baltic Sea ARD seminar was to continue the discussion about the cooperation and information exchange in the ADR-field between Baltic Sea Countries and to identify ideas how to facilitate for foreign consumers to use ADRs.
The seminar brought together the representatives from European Consumer Centres in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
The focus of the seminar held in Tallinn was to learn from the old member states experiences, since there was presented four centres from new member states and four centres from old member states.
The seminar contained the input of each participating ECC to present their best practice on mediating the cross-border disputes into the appropriate ADR. A workshop on how to facilitate consumers from other member states to use ADRs was also carried out during the seminar.
Since the existing situation on out-of court schemes in the European countries vary to a wide extent, the seminar gave a very good overview about different ADR schemes in Baltic Sea Region. The seminar also gave a very good base for providing information to the consumers about finding the appropriate ADR in Baltic Sea Region.
Please find the report of the seminars enclosed:
