According to a Eurobarometer study, less than 50% of EU consumers surveyed felt confident, knowledgeable and protected as consumers. Results show that consumer awareness and skills are worryingly low. Empowered consumers find it easy to identify the best offer, know better their rights and seek redress when things go wrong.

56,471 consumers participated on the survey which was carried out in 2010 in 29 countries -EU27, Iceland and Norway-. The main goal was to gain knowledge of consumer's capacities, awareness and assertiveness in order to better design and develop policies, at both EU and national level.

Although, there is a considerable potential to empower consumers and thereby to improve consumer welfare, results show that consumer awareness and skills are worryingly low. The Internet and the media have a key role to play in consumer empowerment with more than 38% of consumers using the internet to compare products and given the media's capacity to reach citizens directly.

A majority of consumers were not aware of their fundamental rights such as the right to have a faulty product repaired, replaced or reimbursed 24 months after purchase or the right to cancel an online financial services contract within 14 days if they change their mind or find a better offer.

In terms of financial skills, two out of ten people interviewed were not able to choose the cheapest option when buying a flat screen TV. Only 58% could correctly read an ingredients label and 18% could not identify the best-before date. Perhaps the most impressive result percentage is that only 2% of consumers recognised five common public information logos. 25% correctly knew that the CE mark meant that the product 'complies with EU legislation'.