 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
The Verbraucherzentrale Niedersachsen e.V. (Consumer Association of Lower Saxony) is one of sixteen regional consumer organisations in Germany. There is one in each federal state. The Bundesland Lower Saxony has ca. 8 million inhabitants; in the capital Hanover live ca. 500.000 people. Most parts of the region are agricultural areas, but also some industrial zones (vehicles, ships, steel etc. in Emden, Hanover, Osnabrück, Peine, Papenburg, Wolfsburg etc.), harbours (Cuxhaven, Emden, Wilhelmshaven) and universities (Göttingen, Hannover, Lüneburg, Oldenburg, Osnabrück etc.).
The Verbraucherzentrale Niedersachsen is an independent and non-profit organisation, established in 1957 in Hannover. The 18 members are only social organisations, women’s associations and trade unions of Lower Saxony. Today, 20 local advice centres between the North Sea and the mountains of Harz with 54 employees and ca. 40 freelancers offer different services each day, for more than 600.000 consumers per year. Most people come to the Verbraucherzentrale, because they have problems with consumer rights. They get information and advice to support them in their roles as consumers in the real market. Their questions mostly concern financial services and insurances, media and telecommunication services, health and nutrition, domestic appliances and housing and energy saving. Another part of the work is information and consumer education with the aim to save money in the families and to find out the most favourable financing and the best quality of products. The internet site (www.verbraucherzentrale-niedersachsen.de) offers a large presentation of consumer topics and also a special information service for young people.
In the advice centres, there is a high quality standard as far as consumer information and advice are concerned. The slogan “wir wissen weiter” (we know how to proceed) is part of the brand name Verbraucherzentrale Niedersachsen. Advice is given through personal contacts in the centres, the calling service and e-mail. In the Verbraucher-Infothek, a self-information-system with 58 maps, the consumer finds reports of tests and standard information on products and services. Many brochures and flyers complete the offers of the advice centres. The experts in the back office in Hanover support the advice centres. The employees are competent in developing local campaigns and the representation of consumer interests at the political level.
Cooperation with several organisations in Lower Saxony fortifies the efforts to reach a higher level of consumer protection. Since many years, the Verbraucherzentrale Niedersachsen works together with European partners, e.g. with the Verbraucherzentrale Nordrhein-Westfalen in the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) or with the Verbraucherschutzzentrale Ostbelgien. The last great project was the building of a consumer advice centre in Togliatti on the Volga (Russia) as a model for other Russian regions. Now the Perm Region (near the Ural) will take over the concept of Togliatti.
The financing of the Verbraucherzentrale Niedersachsen (ca. 3 million € yearly) is largely ensured by the budget of the Bundesland and the communities with advice centres. Some projects are financed by the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Nutrition and Consumerism (BMELV). More than 23 % of the budget are charges, paid by consumers when taking advantage of the advice services in the Verbraucherzentrale Niedersachsen.