Dear consumer, I protect you! Consumer associations in Italy (1994)

The first consumer protection association, the National Consumers’ Union, was set up in Italy in 1955. All developed countries allocate resources to such bodies. However, in Italy, there is no framework law on consumer protection, nor are there any public institutions or bodies responsible for the matter, except in a few regions where there are ombudsmen who, unlike the Scandinavian one, have an essentially interlocutory function vis-à-vis the defaulting administration, without any real power to intervene.

The first part of the survey aims at defining the structural characteristics, aims and methods of intervention of consumer associations, distinguishing two main groups: independent associations and those created within and at the proposal of a trade union organisation. The second part attempts to answer, through a targeted survey, the question: what do citizens, potential users, think of trade associations?