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Business & Economics

ANALYSIS OF THE MARKET SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITY CARRIED OUT IN ROMANIA BY THE CENTRAL PUBLIC AUTHORITY AND THE ASSESSMENT OF ITS IMPACT ON ROMANIAN CONSUMER PROTECTION BASED ON THE EUROPEAN CONSUMER CONDITIONS INDEX
Gabriela Gheorghiu, Elena Cerasela Spatariu, Raluca Andreea Trandafir, Maria Alina Caratas, Adrian Serban-Comanescu

ABSTRACT. In addition to legal matters involving the development of consumer protection system in Romania, the organization and functioning of a proper institutional framework is particularly important to ensure the practical effectiveness of any legislation adopted in this field.
This article provides an analysis of the activities undertaken between 2012 and 2019 by the National Authority for Consumer Protection (NACP), as the specialized body of central public administration performing tasks to protect Romanian consumers, with the focus on its national market surveillance actions. The research is completed with the assessment made by Romanian consumers particularly on the effectiveness of these activities, and generally on the consumer protection system developed at national level, compared to the European Union average.
As a conclusion, the authors highlight the need for NACP to act openly and firmly to make its activity of direct but also indirect protection of the Romanian consumers more efficient, complementing market surveillance actions with information and education activities and strengthening their decision-making capacity.

KEYWORDS:  consumer rights, consumer protection, market surveillance activity, National Authority for Consumer Protection, Romania.

JEL classification:  D18, F15, O52.