Citizens' Voice - Consumer Advocacy Association

Citizens' Voice serves as an extension of the ATM - Association of Investors and Technical Analysts of Capital Markets, focusing on the protection of non-investor consumers. Meanwhile, ATM is a full member of Better Finance.

None declared

Does not represent commercial interests

Jan 2022 - Dec 2022

Since 20 September 2021 self-declared 'non-commercial organisations' are no longer required to provide a lobby budget. See above timeline for this registrant's historical lobby budget.

1,300€

None declared

In 2023, Citizens' Voice formed TPLF partnership with Justice4All, totaling €173k. This partnership is pivotal for the financial strategy of 2023-2025, considering the anticipated expenses from our 2022 actions. This includes deferred external service fees, integral to our strategic financial management and ensuring the longevity of our advocacy work.

Our association operates on a wholly voluntary basis. All staff members contribute without monetary compensation.

Our overhead costs are exceptionally low, fully covered by our board. This includes all expenses for our headquarters and other operational costs typically incurred by similar organizations. These are not just subsidized but entirely borne by the board, thus exempting the association from these financial burdens. Our offices and headquarters are located in rent-free facilities, with utility costs directly paid by the board members.

Legal fees, primarily for consumer protection class actions, are our only significant expense. These are efficiently managed, either paid after the conclusion of legal proceedings or through third-party financing. In recent years, the association has not yet had to cover these costs. Costs for conference participation are borne by members themselves, and we primarily organize online events, further reducing expenses. Website and other similar costs are also directly covered by our management members.

Given these operational specifics, it's clear why our estimated costs for interest representation activities are much lower than those of a typical organization. We lack regular staff salaries, office maintenance costs, and expenses for events, publications, and travel, all covered by our board. However, we foresee a gradual increase in expenses in the coming years due to planned conferences in various EU countries, although this hasn't been a significant cost factor in recent years.

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Citizens' Voice has been a dynamic participant in conferences on consumer rights and competition law, hosted by esteemed Iberian law firms. Our organization has launched over 100 class actions based on breaches of European Union consumer law. A notable achievement includes successfully challenging Vodafone for imposing unjust charges on thousands of consumers for unsolicited services. We have also confronted airlines like Ryanair for competitive misconduct, including coercive tie selling and imposing extra fees for unregistered cabin luggage, violating passenger rights.

Our advocacy also encompasses issues such as product labeling, price speculation, deceptive advertising, and unfair contract terms in standard agreements, along with consumer rights to product warranties. In these instances, we consistently push for cases to be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for preliminary rulings, aiming to enhance the alignment of various directives across EU Member States.

A significant milestone for Citizens' Voice was the establishment of Portugal’s first Third Party Litigation Funding firm, Justice4All, Lda. This venture financially backs some of our most notable legal actions, which are extensively publicized on our website and social media, garnering considerable media attention in Portugal, including prime-time TV features.

Our proactive efforts extend to liaising with DG-FISMA and DG-Competition for access to documents regarding consumer rights, covering areas like telecommunications and financial products (Ref GestDem No 2022/2992). These initiatives are part of our broader strategy to influence EU policies, legislative proposals, or decisions related to a spectrum of directives, such as 2004/25/EC, 2005/29 EC, 2007/36/EC, 2014/17/EU, 2014/92/EU,2016/97/EU, and Article 107 TFEU.

Looking ahead, Citizens' Voice is gearing up for various campaigns and conferences to tackle aspects of EU law including unfair commercial practices, unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices, unfair terms in consumer contracts, consumer rights, and common rules for air services operation in the Community. Our engagement demonstrates a holistic approach in advocating for consumer rights within the European Union framework.

For more information on some of these initiatives, please visit:

1. Citizens' Voice on Class Actions, Third Party Litigation Funding, and Private Enforcement (https://citizensvoice.eu/2022/06/17/class-actions-third-party-litigation-funding-and-private-enforcement/)
2. Portuguese Parliament Directive (EU) 2020/1828 (https://www.parlamento.pt/ActividadeParlamentar/Paginas/DetalheIniciativa.aspx?BID=173028)
3. Competition, Consumer Protection, and Data Protection (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/uria-menendez_concorr%C3%AAncia-consumo-prote%C3%A7%C3%A3odados-activity-7117466487795167232-1dHZ/?trk=public_profile_like_view&originalSubdomain=pt)

None declared

None declared