Within the framework of consumer protection as provided for in Article 153 of the Treaty it is appropriate for the Commission to consult consumers on problems concerning the protection of their interests at Community level.

Since 1973 the Commission has been assisted by a consultative group created for this purpose by consecutive Decisions, the latest one being Commission Decision 2003/709/EC of 9 October 2003 setting up a European Consumer Consultative Group1.

The work of the Group over an extensive period has shown the necessity to improve its efficiency, representativeness and openness. Therefore, provisions related to the creation of sub-groups and to the adoption of the Group opinions should be clarified and should embody best practices developed over the last years.

In this regard, it is further appropriate to revise the procedure for the appointment of members of the Group representing national consumer organisations and to introduce additional reporting obligations on Group members to better involve national consumer organisations in the work of the Group.

It is important to ensure that the Group and its members participate actively and effectively to bring a consumer perspective to the broad deliberations among interested stakeholders that are the norm for consultation in Europe today.

For reasons of data protection, it is necessary to make the processing of personal data relating to members of the Group subject to Community legislation on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies,