DG JUST develops and carries out the Commission's policies on:
Justice and fundamental rights
The EU is based on the values of human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union brings together all the personal, civic, political, economic and social rights enjoyed by people within the EU.
Objectives
- respect for people's fundamental rights by the EU and by its member countries
- equal treatment on the basis of sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age and sexual orientation
- protection for people's personal data anywhere in the EU
- access to justice in case of legal difficulties anywhere in the EU
- protecting and empowering consumers
Consumers
The European consumer agenda - the strategic vision for EU consumer policy adopted in April 2012:
- reinforces consumer safety: for goods, services and food, strengthening the regulatory framework and making market surveillance more efficient
- enhances knowledge: to cope with the increasing complexity of markets, where consumers need the right tools and information to understand everything from the cost of consumer credit to finding how to complain
- improves enforcement and securing redress, without which rights cannot exist
- aligns policy to societal change and making it relevant to daily life: to adapt consumer law to the digital age and tackle the problems consumers face online; to factor in the needs of vulnerable consumers; to make sustainable choices easy.
Objectives
- safeguard consumer rights through legislation, including help to resolve disputes with traders fast and efficiently (e.g. through alternative dispute resolution and European consumer centres)
- ensure consumer rights keep pace with economic and social change – especially in the digital area, energy, and financial services
- guarantee the safety of products on the single market
- help consumers make choices based on clear, accurate and consistent information, e.g. when shopping online
