At the request of the German Bundestag, the Federal Government should report in detail on its consumer policy activities during each legislative period. In December 2024, the German government complied with this request.
The Consumer Policy Report 2024 highlights the most important consumer protection measures and challenges during the last legislative period (2021 to 2024). The focus was on supporting consumers in the energy price crisis, promoting sustainable consumption and improving digital consumer protection.
Key innovations and developments in consumer policy 2021 - 2024:
- Energy price crisis: Introduction of price brakes for electricity, gas and heat. Measures to prevent supply disruptions and accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
- Digital consumer protection: Strengthening of consumer rights in the areas of artificial intelligence, personalized advertising to minors, misleading business practices of platforms, and the forthcoming introduction of a withdrawal button.
- Healthcare: Promoting electronic patient records.
- Sustainable Consumption: New EU standards promote repairable products, fight greenwashing and premature product obsolescence.
- Credit: The revised Consumer Credit Directive strengthens protection against over-indebtedness through stricter credit checks and better access to debt advice.
You can find the detailed report here.
Sources: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection and Federal Government