JKL Brussels hosted a high level round table debate on October 1st 2008 on the theme “The Customer in Focus”. Key speakers were the EU Commissioner responsible for Consumer affairs, Meglena Kuneva, and former Swedish Prime Minister, Göran Persson.

Meglena Kuneva was appointed Commissioner for Consumer Affairs in 2007 at the time of the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union. Kuneva has a background as a Member of the Bulgarian Parliament, as deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of European Affairs. Mrs. Kuneva was also the Chief Negotiator for the EU accession process. As a Commissioner, she has been very successful and is nominated for Commissioner of the Year by the European Voice.

Göran Persson, Senior Advisor at JKL, served as Prime Minister of Sweden between 1996 and 2006. During Sweden’s presidency of the EU in 2001, Göran Persson was President of the European Council. Before becoming Prime Minister and Party Chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Göran Persson served as Minister of Finance and Minister for Schools in the 1990s. Göran Persson has unique experience in international politics and the EU. He is known for his broad, personal knowledge of issues like climate change, European relations with Russia, and the challenges to the welfare state.

Five main headlines that were discussed at the round table
• Consumer confidence as a key factor for the internal market
• Efficient redress to send strong signals to the industry
• Harmonising consumer protection will boost cross border e-commerce
• Consumer protection could mitigate the financial crisis
• The younger generation as consumer activists

Consumer protection evidently affects all JKL’s clients. Commissioner Kuneva has presented a Consumer Policy Strategy for 2007-2013 which is currently resulting in concrete proposals for legislation on consumer rights. Many of the ideas presented by Mrs. Kuneva are now influencing a greater number of business sectors, even in industries not considered as classically consumer driven. We see, for instance, how companies within the financial and energy sectors are today becoming more and more customer driven, orienting their organisation and business directly towards the consumer. Digital communication brings consumers closer to the companies thus forcing the industry to deal with the consumer aspect.

Attached is the summary of the round table If you have any questions on these topics, we are happy to forward them to the EU Commissioner Meglena Kuneva or Göran Persson.

JKL Brussels opened in 2006 and is specialised in European Public Affairs. Our Brussels office works on a broad range of European matters and has expertise in the following sectors: financial communication, media relations, public opinion and lobbying and corporate communication strategies. MS&L Brussels has experience in advising Fortune 500 companies in merger clearance at the European Commission and in changing EU legislation in the energy, media and transport sector.

JKL Brussels has 14 consultants at its disposal. The team is led by Sebastian Cederschiöld, MD, and Henrik Bernitz, Manager.


Please contact our Brussels team at:
+32 (0)2 737 92 00
Sebastian.Cederschiold@jklgroup.com
Henrik.Bernitz@jklgroup.com
orBrussels@jklgroup.com