Romania is being turned into a market for products of inferior quality compared to those sold in other EU countries, although traded under the same brand, according to a piece of fake news published in Bucharest. The false narrative is based on a draft law with the specific goal of protecting consumers.
NEWS: “The dual quality of products has been enacted by the European Commission. Therefore, Romania will be officially selling goods under the same brand, but produced especially for third-tier countries, namely a sort of subpar products sold for the same market price to third-tier European citizens. As a consolation, the Economy Ministry passed a law compelling companies to specify this difference on the product label. The repeated requests sent to the EU by the government while Dragnea was still in office, calling on European authorities to end the practice of selling certain products of inferior quality on the Romanian market under the same brand, did not yield the desired effects. The European Commission, however, has taken notice of this practice and decided to modify EC Directive 29/2005, recognizing as a misleading commercial practice any attempt at trading a piece of merchandise in a Member State identical to another product traded in other Member States, although significantly different in terms of composition and characteristics. The newly introduced article however makes an exception in the case of products that have different characteristics for legitimate and objective reasons. The provision has been integrated into a Government draft decree, and, as a consolation, the Economy Ministry has passed a law forcing companies dealing with dual quality standards to specify the difference on the label of each product”, an article published by National.ro reads.
NARRATIVE: Romania is a second-rate EU country and a “consumer colony” of the West.
BACKGROUND: Russian propaganda continues to emphasize the narrative about Romania being a second-rate country in the European Union, receiving a double-standard treatment from Brussels and used as a consumer periphery for underrated products of international corporations in Europe.
The translation of European Directives into national legislation is considered a form of political and economic subordination of newer EU member states to older members of the European family. The narrative stresses the idea that Romania is subject to biased treatment and is used as a colony for the West’s political and commercial interests and as an outlet, thus undermining the country’s sovereignty. At the same time, such narratives seek to suggest that Romanians are second-rate European citizens.
PURPOSE: To fuel Eurosceptic sentiments and hostility towards the EU, and by extension, towards the West.
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: First of all, the Directive 2005/29 of the European Commission did not suffer any recent modifications. Its last review was on May 20, 2020, according to the official European Commission website.
The Directive 2005/29/EC distinguishes two categories of commercial practices that are considered unfair if they cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision that the consumer would not have taken otherwise: misleading commercial practices (by action or omission) and aggressive commercial practices.
What the Economy Ministry in Romania is doing right now by means of the decree described in the article is to submit for public debate, until January 7, 2022, the European legislation in this field in order to ensure a better observance of consumer protection standards and to modernize these regulations.
Under Article 6, paragraphs 1 and 2, the decree compels economic operators to specify “in the case of any product traded on the territory of Romania if it is identical to a product traded in other member states, although significantly different in terms of composition and characteristics, justified by legitimate and objective reasons, in which case economic operators must provide consumers with accurate information regarding the difference between products in light of legitimate and objective reasons, so that consumers can easily distinguish between the products. Economic operators must provide consumers with information that should facilitate access to the said products”.
This will allow consumers to know if a product traded under the same brand in Romania has different characteristics compared to products traded in other countries, a practice that was not implemented until now.
In other words, store owners must now notify potential buyers in a visible and easy-to-recognize manner if a product is in any way different to similar products traded elsewhere.
“The current decree transposes into national legislation Directive (EU) 2019/2161 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directives 98/6/EC, 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the better enforcement and modernization of Union consumer protection rules, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, L 328 of December 18, 2019”, the Economy Ministry decree reads.
Therefore, Romania is adapting its national legislation to integrate European Directives in the field of consumer protection.
The Directive (EU) 2019/2161 amending the said directives introduces a specific rule concerning the unfair trading of certain products that are presented as identical, when in reality their composition or characteristics are different (often referred to as “dual quality” goods) and defines exactly what it means by “misleading commercial practices” and “aggressive commercial practices” (See the Unfair commercial practices section in the link).
Also worth noting is that National.ro is a publication that constantly expresses narratives of Russian propaganda in its articles, which it tries to turn into topics of internal debate in Romania, something which Veridica.ro has frequently reported on.
GRAIN OF TRUTH: The Economy Ministry has submitted for public debate a decree modifying certain laws in order to transpose into national law European Directives in the field of consumer protection.
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