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Consumer's Telegramm European Edition
If you wish to be informed monthly about European consumer news, just subscribe our free newsletter.Consumer's Telegram April 2005
Insert of n. 28 - Editorial office: Centro Europeo Consumatori (European Consumer Centre, Italy)EU COMPARISON OF CAR PRICES
Bargains possible in spite of price convergency
Comparing car prices in Europe the European Commission could detect a convergence of the 25 markets, that is to say that the average difference between the prices in the 25 nations has become less.In spite of this, the Italian consumer can save quite some money when buying certain car models abroad: according to the EU comparison of car prices a VW Passat (102HP, 5G4T) costs up to 5,940 euro (VAT included) less in Denmark and a SAAB 9-3 (2.0TS – Aero) is 5,751.60 euro cheaper in Danmark. Of course, these differencies of prices do not consider possible differencies of equipment, special offers and costs of import. However . they can be a reason for watching out carefully when buying a car.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/car_sector/price_diffs/
TRAVELLING I: CITY TRIPS
Saving money by using tourist cards
In many towns the ‘City-cards’, as they are called, provide a free or cheap entrance to public transport, museums, theatres, sightseeing tours and zoos . Moreover, some locations add special offers to this: a bonus for renting bikes, a free entrance to healing pools.The Consumer Center of South Tyrol has done a research on the quality and conditions of such citycards of different interesting towns and offers a summary of the results.
REPORT OF THE YEAR 2004
The ECC in Figures
Last year 1,604 consumers asked the ECC for information and help in case of arguments. 133,980 citizens visited its homepage (www.euroconsumatori.org) and 310 people got regularly informed about the latest consumer news by the telegram which was published 11 times a year in German, Italian, Ladin and English. The official reports for the year 2004 as well as for 2003 have also been published on the homepage under the section ‘About Us’ (please choose either the German or Italian version).TRAVELLING II
Shopping in Europe
Did you know that in Sweden it is obligatory to show a document of identity every time you would like to pay with your credit card? Did you know that in Austria, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden and the United Kingdom the prices on price-tags of goods and in shopping windows are not necessarily to be respected by the seller but provide only an invitation to the consumer to make an offer? Did you know that in Finland and in the Netherlands the legal warranty is unlimited, not only for two years?‘Shopping in Europe ‘ is a manual guide offered by the ECC which explains the rights of consumers in 14 of the ‘old’ member states. It is about warranties, rules of prices, the most common means of payment as well as about opening hours of shops, bancs and post offices. You can get this manual online under the section ‘info’ or directly at the Consumer Centre.
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