European Economic and Social Committee

MADRID DECLARATION

We, the participants at the meeting on New attitudes towards consumptionorganised by the EESC at the invitation of the European Commission's Representation in Spain on 25 June 2014, hereby declare that:

•the dominant economic model, based on production and consumption, has too many shortcomings. In times of crisis, there is too much emphasis on damage limitation and not enough on promoting competitive European growth for our economic and social well-being;

•the fight against planned obsolescence should be one of the centrepieces of an innovative Europe, balancing the economic, social and environmental dimensions, positioning the entrepreneur as a provider of services and putting sustainability centre stage;

•by reducing the cost to individuals of accessing products, introducing a sense of solidarity into commerce and engendering new modes of production, collaborative consumption is ushering in a new phase that the European Union should be doing more to support;

•the fight against planned obsolescence, and collaborative consumption - these concepts are the face of a totally new kind of economy. Industrial ecology, ecodesign, the functional economy, the circular economy: all of these approaches must be provided for and shored up with a view to securing economic competitiveness, establishing local networks, creating new jobs and reducing the environmental and social impact;

•the European Union must be at the cutting edge of innovation, developing new models that facilitate a competitive economic transition built on sustainable foundations. This can be achieved by enshrining sustainable consumption as a consumer right within EU legislation. In addition, focusing on product use rather than on individual features and increasing product lifetime are ways of cutting down on waste. Dynamic and innovative measures equal to these new challenges must spur the European Union on to recalibrate the economy and restore confidence among Europe's businesses and consumers.

Thierry Libaert / Jean-Pierre Haber / Bernardo Hernandez Bataller
Carlos Trias Pinto

EESC-2014-03150-00-00-TCD (EN)