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Policy work
- Topics
  Topics
  Here, you can find a selection of topics relating to consumer policy that vzbv works on.
- EU consumer policy
  EU consumer policy
  Find out more about consumer policy in the EU.
- Experts
  Experts
  Get to know vzbv’s experts and the fields they work in.
- Elections
  Elections
  German Parliament and European elections represent opportunities for long-term changes in consumer policy and are thus crucial events for our policy-work.
- Policy work
  Everything offered by vzbv for people working on consumer policy.
Media
- Press contact
  Press contact
  Contact for all media requests and other related enquiries.
- Press releases
  Press releases
  Here, you can find all press releases of vzbv.
- Media
  Contact for all media requests and other related enquiries.
Consumers
- Advice & information
  Advice & information
  You can find all the information services and advisory services on consumer-related topics here.
- Collective redress
  Collective redress
  vzbv launches collective redress actions on behalf of aggrieved consumers. You can find more information about this here.
- Consumers
  Consumers can find everything offered by the consumer associations and vzbv here.
About us
- About vzbv
  About vzbv
  vzbv campaigns for strong consumer rights, fair markets and safe products and services. Find out how we work, and what our association stands for here.
- Executive Director
  Executive Director
  Find out more about vzbv’s Executive Director Ramona Pop.
- Our members
  Our members
  Together with its members, vzbv forms a strong network for protecting consumers in Germany and Europe.
- Contact
  Contact
  You can find an overview of vzbv’s contact details here.
- About us
  As an umbrella organisation, vzbv brings together the strength of 16 consumer associations, plus 29 additional organisations focused on consumer policy. You can find out all about the organisation’s work here.

Consumer education
Digital & media
Energy & construction
Europe
Financial marketes
Food
Health care
Legal affairs & trade
Litigation
Market monitoring
Mobility & travel
Policy
Sustainability

Zu sehen ist ein ellipsenförmiges dreistöckiges Gebäudes mit umlaufenden Fenstern. Die Fassadengestaltung ist neongelb und hebt sich um blauen Himmel ab. Bei der sogenannte Pillbox handelt es sich um ein Gebäudeteil, in dem der vzbv seine Büroräume hat. — Credit: vzbv

Experts

Dieser Inhalt ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar.

Consumer education

Improving consumers’ skills

Citizens need to be provided with new educational services so that they are better equipped for their day-to-day life as consumers. The best way to do this? Start with children and young people: Consumer education means communicating everyday knowledge in theoretical and applied form and shedding light on the increasingly dense jungle of consumption, the media and the financial sector. This works best if these topics are a compulsory part of school education.

Dr. Vera Fricke

Team Leader Consumer Education

verbraucherbildung@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Dörte Adam-Gutsch

Consultant Education “Consumer Checker”

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Janin Hartmann

Policy Officer Team Consumer Education

verbraucherbildung@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Anke Wolf

Policy Officer "Consumer School", Team Consumer Education

verbraucherbildung@vzbv.de +49 30 258 00-0

Florence Rothe

Policy Officer Project "Verbraucherchecker"

verbraucherchecker@vzbv.de +49 30 258 00-0

Anne de Vries

Policy Officer Team Consumer Education

verbraucherschule@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Josephine Lindemann

Policy Officer Team Consumer Education

verbraucherschule@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Digital & Media

Fostering new roles for consumers

As digital communication and services are extending into ever more areas of life, it is important that people’s privacy is protected and digital content is freely accessible to all. We are committed to ensuring that net neutrality takes precedence over individual companies’ desire for profits, now and in the future, and that copyright law is reformed. The internet is not shaped by national borders. However, international data transfers must comply with the provisions of German consumer protection legislation.

Lina Ehrig

Team Leader Digital and Media

info@vzbv.de +49 30 258 00-0

Miika Blinn

Policy Officer Team Digital and Media

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Susanne Blohm

Policy Officer Team Digital and Media

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Florian Glatzner

Policy Officer Team Digital and Media

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Marielle Findorff

Policy Officer Digital and Media

info@vzbv.de +49 30 258 00-0

Martin Madej

Policy Officer Team Digital and Media

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Energy & construction

Boosting efficiency, limiting costs

Consumers support the energy transition but criticise the way it is put into practice – and this criticism is primarily aimed at its high costs, with an average four-person household spending a hefty 95 percent more each year on electricity than at the turn of the millennium. This represents a growing burden, particularly for people on low incomes. We are committed to capping the costs of the energy transition, distributing them fairly and supporting measures to improve energy efficiency.

Thomas Engelke

Team Leader Energy and Construction

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Henning Herbst

Policy Officer Team Energy and Construction

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Florian Munder

Policy Officer Team Energy and Construction

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Lorena Jonas

Policy Officer Team Energy and Construction

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Europe

For a consumer-friendly European Single Market

Consumer demand represents a substantial pillar of the European economy. Consumers have borne the many burdens of the European financial crisis and the public debt crisis. As a result, their interests should be at the heart of European Single Market policy and harmonisation efforts. When it comes to negotiating free trade agreements, we are committed to upholding tried-and-trusted consumer protection standards, particularly the EU precautionary principle.

Isabelle Buscke

Head of Brussels Office

buero-bruessel@vzbv.de +32 278927-52

Thomas Bobinger

Policy Officer Brussels Office

buero-bruessel@vzbv.de +32 278927-53

Martina Frantik

Policy Officer Brussels Office

buero-bruessel@vzbv.de +32 289277-06

Ann-Katrin Hamacher

Policy Officer International Trade Policy

buero-bruessel@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Financial markets

Defending consumers’ interests in financial markets

Efficient, consumer-friendly financial products, sound and independent advice, and well-functioning, consumer-focused supervision of the financial markets: these are our goals for consumer protection in the financial sector. However, consumers’ interests are still being neglected when it comes to monitoring and designing regulation for the financial markets. This is why financial markets must be reformed further.

Dorothea Mohn

Team Leader Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Christian Ahlers

Policy Officer Team Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Lars Gatschke

Policy Officer Team Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Johannes Müller

Policy Officer Team Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Claudio Zeitz-Brandmeyer

Policy Officer Team Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Food

More clarity and truth about food

Misrepresentation, inadequate checks, low quality standards: time and again, negligence and greed for profit lead to scandals in the food industry. Consumers want healthy food that they can afford. This is why we call for end-to-end documentation of production and processing, as well as clear, accurate labelling of goods. What is contained in the food must also be written on the label. What is written on the label must also be contained in the food. Finally, the label needs to be easy to understand.

Christiane Seidel

Team Leader Food

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Anne Markwardt

Team Leader Food (on parental leave)

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Jochen Geilenkirchen

Policy Officer Sustainable Consumption

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Sabrina Göddertz

Policy Officer Team Food

info@vzbv.de +49 (30) 258 00-0

Jutta Jaksche

Policy Officer Team Food

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Carolin Krieger

Policy Officer Team Food

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Stephanie Wetzel

Project Coordinator "Food Transparency"

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Lisa Völkel

Policy Officer Team Food

info@vzbv.de +49 (30) 258 00-0

Health care

Guaranteeing secure treatment

Consumers are entitled to appropriate medical treatment and dignified care. They should return to health – and stay healthy. The quality of treatment and patient safety need to be on an equal footing with the interest in limiting expenditure.

Thomas Moormann

Team Leader Health Care

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Lucas Auer

Policy Officer Digitalisation of Health Care

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Mara Schläfke

Policy Officer Team Health Care

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Dr. Sylwia Timm

Policy Officer Team Health Care

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Legal affairs & trade

Equal opportunities for consumers and companies

We campaign for equal opportunities for consumers and companies. Consumer rights need to be adapted to take new developments into account, such as the increase in the international transport of goods and services, or digitalisation. Consumers need to have a fair chance to exercise and enforce these rights, such as when exercising their right to legal guarantees or information rights.

Felix Methmann

Team Leader Legal Affairs and Trade

info@vzbv.de +49 30 258 00-0

Dietlinde Bleh

Policy Officer Team Legal Affairs and Trade

info@vzbv.de (030) 25800-0

Stefanie Grunert

Policy Officer Team Legal Affairs and Trade

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Meret Sophie Noll

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Roland Stuhr

Policy Officer Team Legal Affairs and Trade

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Litigation

Enforcing the law, empowering consumers

Hardly any consumer has the financial means or the time to engage in a lengthy and costly legal dispute over a defective product or service. As a result, consumer rights often remain without resounding success. After all, it requires a plaintiff to enforce the applicable legal provisions in court. vzbv takes on this task as one of the organisations in Germany with the right to take legal action, known in law as “standing”. While individual consumers may not be able to fight back, 80 million of them certainly can.

Heiko Dünkel

Team Leader Litigation

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

David Bode

Policy Officer Team Litigation

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Jana Brockfeld

Policy Officer Team Litigation

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Kerstin Hoppe

Policy Officer Team Litigation

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Susanne Einsiedler

Policy Officer Team Litigation

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Rosemarie Rodden

Policy Officer Team Litigation

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Fabian Tief

Policy Officer Team Litigation

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Ronny Jahn

Team Leader Collective Redress

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Henning Fischer

Policy Officer Team Collective Redress

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Patrick Langer

Policy Officer Team Collective Redress

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Sebastian Reiling

Policy Officer Team Collective Redress

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Market monitoring

Consumer protection needs a consumer perspective

With its market monitoring, vzbv scrutinises markets in the fields of digital services, energy and financial services. For a comprehensive assessment, it is necessary to look at the real market situation as consumers experience it. Specialist teams for the three topic areas along with the quality assurance team systematically evaluate consumer complaints from across Germany. In 2020 vzbv received more than 616,000 enquiries and complaints. On this basis, the teams can identify undesirable systematic developments and deficiencies at an early stage and protect consumers in a faster and more targeted manner.

Sven Scharioth

Director Market Monitoring

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Dennis Romberg

Team Leader Monitoring Digital Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Carola Elbrecht

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Digital Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Peter Gerlicher

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Digital Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Dorle Martischewsky

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Digital Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 (30) 258 00-0

Lars Schmidtke

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Digital Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Kathrin Steinbach

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Digital Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Sabrina Wagner

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Digital Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Svenja Gesemann

Team Leader Monitoring Energy Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Marie Barz

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Energy Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Irina Krüger

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Energy Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Sabine Lund

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Energy Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Roland Scharathow

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Energy Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Dorina Wilhelm

Team Lead Monitoring Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Dr. Heiko Fürst

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 258 00-0

Meryem Osanmaz

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Frank-Christian Pauli

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Jörn Rehren

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Ralph Kummer

Policy Officer Team Monitoring Financial Markets

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Mobility & travel

Shaping the mobility of tomorrow

Mobility is a core component of efforts to increase energy efficiency and protect the climate. Good, reliable public transport and the switch to zero-carbon, sustainable energy sources for cars are crucial aspects of this. Digitalisation gives rise to new opportunities to ensure mobility with less input in terms of energy, materials and costs. The data protection risks associated with the increased use of digital technologies, however, need to be limited.

Marion Jungbluth

Team Leader Mobility and Travel

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Gregor Kolbe

Policy Officer Team Mobility and Travel

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

André Duderstaedt

Policy Officer Team Mobility and Travel

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Elke Salzmann

Policy Officer Ressource Efficiency, Team Mobility and Travel

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Daniel Weber

Project Officer „Low Emission Transport“

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Policy

Investigate, intervene, lead the way

Consumer policy is closer to citizens than almost any other area of government, touching on the realities of consumers’ lives. It needs to be designed in such a way that it enables people to assert their rights: consumer policy at the heart of all policy-making.

Jutta Gurkmann

Director Consumer Policy

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Michaela Schröder

Director Consumer Policy

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Henrik Fork-Weigel

Team Leader Executive Director

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Jonathan Liebig

Policy Officer Team Executive Officer

info@vzbv.de (030) 258 00-0

Daniela Lucassen

Policy Officer Strategy Team Exexutive Director

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Kirsten Wiegand

Policy Officer Team Project and Association Management

info@vzbv.de (030) 258 00-0

Sustainability

Safe, non-toxic products and sustainable waste disposal

Consumers want safe, eco-friendly products. We are committed to ensuring that the impact products have on our health and the environment are minimised – from manufacturing the product right through to its disposal. Rules for separating waste need to be clear and simple to ensure consumers play their part in supporting the waste disposal system.

Jochen Geilenkirchen

Policy Officer Sustainable Consumption

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Keo Sasha Rigorth

Policy Officer Ressource Efficiency, Team Mobility and Travel

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Elke Salzmann

Policy Officer Ressource Efficiency, Team Mobility and Travel

info@vzbv.de +49 30 25800-0

Sabrina Göddertz

Policy Officer Team Food

info@vzbv.de +49 (30) 258 00-0