Consumer Law Ready phase 2 concludes, with 18-month extension announced

EUROCHAMBRES, in collaboration with SMEunited, BEUC and the European Commission, organized a conference on the results of the second phase of the Consumer Law Ready (CLR) project on 28 June. The event underlined the considerable value of the project in enabling small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to acquire necessary knowledge and skills regarding consumer law. The announcement that the initiative will be extended until the end of 2022 was therefore warmly welcomed by participants and stakeholders.

The project, which started back in 2016, aims to increase awareness among SMEs on European and national consumer legislation. Consumer Law Ready is an EU-wide consumer law training programme for SMEs. Specialist training provides SMEs with the necessary know-how to deal with customer complaints, avoid costly litigation and improve overall customer service.

Monday’s conference involved special guests from SMEs who have benefited from the programme and presented results and best practices from phase 2, during which activities had to be heavily adapted in response to COVID-19 restrictions. Despite the constraints, CLR met most of the objectives, including five European online workshops, developing new resources (such as Key Recommendations for SMEs in the COVID-19 context), and delivering at least 50 online training sessions at national level.

Lead Trainers, as well as the Local Trainers network, supported by the consortium, played an important role throughout phase 2. It is the first time that CLR has been implemented via online platforms, keeping the community alive and delivering training to around 900 people since autumn 2020. This new online environment is supported by digital resources available for CLR and its training programmes.

For more information about Consumer Law Ready: www.consumerlawready.eu/