8.1 Introduction

A consumer who purchases goods within the EU is entitled to a set of basic consumer rights. The Commission developed these rights in the course of two consumer political programmes (1975 and 1981).1 The five fundamental rights of consumers set out in these programmes are: (1) the right to the protection of health and safety; (2) the right to the protection of economic interests; (3) the right of redress; (4) the right to information and education; and (5) the right to representation.2 The right to information - one of these rights - is the focus of this paper. The significance of this right was firmly established in 1990 by the decision of the ECJ in the GB Inno case.3This decision should be understood "as recognition, under Community free movement law, of the consumer right to information at least with regard to measures by Member States restricting the free movement of goods".4 The consumer's right "to information and education" was also recognised by the Treaty of Amsterdam.5 This right has since become an integral part of European Community (EC) consumer policy.6 The consumer's right to information is especially relevant in the framework of product safety.

The safety of products has become a priority for EU policy makers over the past decade.7 In 2004, the revised General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) came into force.8 The GPSD introduces safety requirements for most consumer products. The main emphasis of the GPSD is the consumer's right to know about dangerous products. Later, in 2006, the landmark chemical legislation 'REACH'9 was introduced. As REACH is a Regulation, its provisions have direct effect on companies and consumers and do not have first to be transposed, as is the case with Directives, into national legislation.10 REACH aimed to increase environmental and consumer protection. One of the key provisions is the right of consumers to information regarding dangerous chemicals. Making risks transparent and providing information on safe use of products that contain dangerous chemicals is considered important to realise the fundamental consumer right pertaining to the protection of health and safety. This article will discuss this focus in particular. The environmental protection goals of REACH will not be elaborated upon.

The emergence of EU measures in the field of consumer protection indicates that this area has become more effective. Traditionally, the legislation was directed at protecting the consumer's economic interest. Since the last decade, health, environmental concerns and CSR aspects have also been addressed by consumer law. Specifically, the consumer's ' right to know' has been recognised and emphasised in various legislation. In order to assess how the consumer's right to information has been implemented in practice and whether it can be regarded as an effective right (i.e. how much information can a consumer successfully request from a company?), this chapter will first analyse the REACH Regulation.

Section 8.2 will explain what type of information has to be registered under REACH. This will be followed by an analysis of the consumer's right to information in section 8.3. It is interesting to note that workers also have a right to information under REACH. Furthermore, we note that the consumer's right to information cannot be analysed in a European setting alone. Non-EU manufacturers play a major role in supplying chemicals to the European market. Consequently, the impact of REACH on non-EU manufacturers will also be discussed. The question whether non-EU consumers can benefit from REACH will also be addressed. Section 8.4 will offer a comparative analysis of REACH and other EU legislation with respect to consumer protection and product information tracing systems. This analysis will give a broader perspective of the consumer's 'right to know'. Section 8.5 addresses enforcement issues and will present the outcome of an experiment regarding the right to information under REACH. In section 8.6, a new interesting legislative proposal in the field of consumer information will be discussed. A brief summary concludes this chapter.

The perspective of this article is European legislation, the implementation of which is in one case illustrated by describing enforcement possibilities under Dutch law. The research method was theoretical. In addition, two practical experiments have been conducted.