Welcome! European Consumer Centres' Network Consumer protection in Estonia Consumers' rights in Estonia Alternative Dispute Resolution Consumer Complaint Committee Insurance Court of Arbitration ADR seminars for Baltic Sea countries How to complain? Legislation Request for information / Submit a complaint Contact details Privacy Statement Press releases The pan-European research demonstrates the increased number of complaints related to the air passenger rights Joint project of ECC-Net demonstrates that the consumer rights continue to be breached in e-trading On the 7th of July the rights of travellers are paid a special attention to in the airports of Europe ECC-Network annual report now published: 71,000 EU shoppers received help in 2010! The European Consumer Centre of Estonia will participate in the tourism fair Tourest 2011 Archive News Hotels and motels in Estonia will soon get stars according to the international system Since 1st of January 1011 the official currency in Estonia is euro Before making the choice of the ski holidays, read the ECC Net report on “Ski Resorts in Europe 2010/2011”! The fifth e-commerce report “The European Online Marketplace: Consumer Complaints 2008-2009” is now available As from 6th of September 2010 the European Consumer Centre of Estonia is operating at the new address! Comparison of minimum criteria for 3-star hotels is now available European Consumer Centre of Estonia celebrates with others the Europe Day on 8th of May in Tallinn! Archive

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) or out-of-court mechanisms have been developed to help citizens who have a consumer dispute but who have been unable to reach an agreement directly with the trader.

ADR schemes usually use a third party such as an arbitrator, mediator or ombudsman to help to reach a solution.

The advantage of ADR compared to going to court:

• more flexibility
• can better meet the needs of both
• cheaper
• quicker
• more informal

In Estonia there are 2 out-of-court schemes:

1. Consumer Complain Committee (settles disputes between consumers and traders)
2. Insurance Court of Arbitration (settles insurance disputes).

The promotion of the ADR bodies is a one of the priorities of the European Commission. Hereby you can find two European Commission’s recommendations about the ADR bodies:

1) European Commission Recommendation (98/257/EC) on the Principles applicable to bodies responsible for the out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes.

2) European Commission Recommendation (2001/310/EC) listing the Principles for bodies who are involved in the consensual resolution of consumer disputes.

Database of notified out-of-court bodies.

Campaigns of ECC Estonia Were you ripped off on the Internet?

Joint projects of the ECC-Net Air Passenger Rights Report 2011 Online cross-border mystery shopping Comparison of minimum criteria for 3-star hotels in the EU Ski Resorts in Europe 2010-2011 The European Online Marketplace: Consumer Complaints 2008 - 2009 The European Online Marketplace: Consumer Complaints 2007 Air Passenger Rights: Consumer Complaints 2006 Air Passenger Rights: Consumer Complaints 2005 The European Online Marketplace: Consumer Complaints 2005 Money changing in EU Member States outside the euro area

Poll In your opinion, what obstacles do you face in case of cross border shopping? Language barrier Not enough information about the local consumer rights Prices are too high Bad previous experiences I cannot see any obstacles

Useful links European Union European Parliament The Council of the EU EU - Consumers econsumer.com FIN-NET Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Euro Info Centre European Youth Portal Europe Direct EURES Europass