THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004, and in particular Article 27(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 lays down provisions for cooperation between competent authorities designated by Member States as responsible for the enforcement of Union laws that protect consumers’ interests.
(2)
Article 27(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 requires the Commission, to confer the power to issue ‘external alerts’ concerning suspected infringements covered by that Regulation on entities representing consumer, and, where appropriate, trader, interests at a Union level.
(3)
The entities covered by this Decision operate on a Union level and expressed interest in participating in the external alert mechanism. Those entities have signed up to the Transparency Register and thereby to the Code of Conduct contained in Annex III of the Agreement between the European Parliament and the European Commission on the transparency register for organisations and self-employed individuals engaged in EU policy-making and policy implementation.
(4)
Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 applies from 17 January 2020. This Decision should therefore apply from the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union in order to enable the organisations concerned to participate in the external alert mechanism as soon as possible.
(5)
In line with Article 27(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 Member States were consulted on the entities covered by this Decision,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: