Study on the Information Level of Pupils and Parents Regarding the Effects of Unhealthy Food Consumption

During the past centuries, consumption has become both one of the most discussed and analyzed subjects in the literature and a mass phenomenon in society. In order to satisfy their needs and to improve the quality of their life consumers need information and education. Consumers’ information and education are promoted by a globally-developed consumer movement. The aims of our paper are to present the role of the consumer information and education in society, and to analyze and highlight the results of a national project regarding the information and education of Romanian young consumers, run by the Association for Consumers Protection (APC) Romania. By using primary data obtained from a survey based on a questionnaire, a set of three hypotheses was tested during our research. The results of our research shows that a relatively small number of Romanian pupils from the 5th grade to 8th grade were aware of the negative effects of unhealthy food consumption and of the fact that the unhealthy food consumption may give rise to obesity and ADHD (agitation with attention deficit).consumer information, consumption, consumer, consumerism, pupils

The successful integration of the 1st year agricultural students into the university life. Methodological reference marks

The communication presents in detail a strategic plan of the management from the Agriculture Faculty to support the 1st year students who risk dropping out of university and who belong mainly to the disadvantaged groups. The educational approach was settled after the initial analysis of the causes that lead to the university dropout phenomenon. Some students come from families with low income; others live only with one parent or their parents work abroad (19.8%); some of them live in the countryside (45.3%); others come from disadvantaged social groups or they risk dropping out of university (86.6% in the academic year 2016/2017). In the academic year 2015-2016, 77 first year students were expelled, out of a total of 376, which represents 20.5 %. In the academic year 2016-2017, 321 first year students were enrolled, out of which 278 students are in a risky situation; 174 students belong to disadvantaged social and economic groups; the first year students of the graduation cycle do not have the necessary learning skills. In order to diminish the university dropout, the following efforts will be made: to find out the students’ individual particular features according to their age; to focus on the students about the teaching-learning-evaluating approaches; to initiate and to carry out social and emotional development programs; to counsel the students individually so that they overcome adapting issues which occur in the first year of the bachelor’s cycle; to acquire efficient learning techniques that could open for them new horizons to the lifelong education; partnerships among families, university, community and economic agents

RULINGS OF THE NATIONAL COURTS FOLLOWING THE CURIA DECISION IN CASE C-186/16, ANDRICIUC AND OTHERS VS BANCA ROMANEASCA

The CJEU's judgment in Andriciuc and Others vs Banca Românească Case C-186/16 that came in September 2017 is an addition to a growing body of case law on procedural obstacles to consumer protection under Directive 93/13/EEC. According to the Court, a contractual term must be drafted in plain intelligible language, the information obligations should be performed by the bank in a manner to make the well-informed and reasonably observant and circumspect consumer aware of both possibility of a rise or fall in the value of the foreign currency and also enabling estimation of the significant economic consequences of repayment of the loan in the same currency as the currency in which the loan was taken out. Following a succession of consumer-friendly preliminary rulings from European Court of Justice (Case C-26/13, Árpád Kásler, Hajnalka Káslerné Rábai v OTP Jelzálogbank Zrt and Case C-186/16 Andriciuc and Others v Banca Românească, bank customers across the European Union are increasingly taking their banks to court. However, there are still a lot provisions in the national legislations which made the judicial review of unfair contract terms difficult and reveals the limits of consumer protection under Directive 93/13. Also, we focus on the powers of the national court when dealing with a term considered to be unfair (civil) courts and the availability of legal remedies in ensuring the effectiveness of the Directive. Although the CJEU provides interpretation of EU law, the national court alone has jurisdiction to find and assess the facts in the case before it and to interpret and apply national law. The ruling issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJUE) in the Andriciuc versus Banca Românească case represents a great advantage for some of the European debtors. In this paper, we intend to examine, starting from the theory of abusive clauses and referring to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice in the matter, to what extent it is possible that under Council Directive 93/13 / EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts and the national laws of the various Member States to order "freeze of the exchange rate" or conversion of the currency of the credit into domestic currenc

REFLECTIONS ON THE SALE OF CONSUMER GOODS AND ASSOCIATED GUARANTEES

In the European Union all members states have already transposed Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees into national law. In Romania, the state, through its legislative institutions, the Parliament and the Government, and through those who take care of market surveillance, in our case the National Authority for Consumer Protection, should ensure the consumers a high level of protection. The aims of our paper are to render in brief the legislative framework related to the consumer protection and to clarify a number of issues regarding: the distinction between products that benefit a 2 years legal warranty and those for which the legal warranty is limited to the average duration of use (household products); the legal warranty for second-hand products; the importance for the consumer of the presumption of the product’s noncompliance; the situations that involve repair, replacement, appropriate price reduction, contract resolution; the deadline for the product to be repaired; the issue of replacement parts when product repair is in warranty or post-warranty; hidden vices. The methodological approach was based on the literature review. Our paper contributes to a better understanding of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees and provides a platform on which to build further studies on the same subject

Modern Systems of Information Transmission on Agro & Food Supply Chain

Global food commodity diversification requires the application of new methods of data identification, monitoring, collection and processing in the production or distribution area. Classical systems of information transmission are currently widely used, but also present some inconvenience addressed by the emergence of new generations of information carriers. Current requirements for technical processes monitoring, quality assurance, traceability and customer orientation led to the emergence and evolution of modern identification systems based on dynamic information transmission and global databases development. The development of computer technology and the Internet are factors that allowed the development of these systems

Acceptance of Demand Response and Aggregators as a Solution to Optimize the Relation between Energy Producers and Consumers in order to Increase the Amount of Renewable Energy in the Grid

Demand response plays a very important role in balancing the intermittent production of an increasing share of renewable energy sources on the energy market. This article analyses the importance of demand response and the role of aggregators for the new development of the electricity market, where the renewables will play a more important role. The main objective of this research is to determine the acceptance level of demand response and its implementation on the energy consumer side. This acceptance should include a professional actor, the aggregator which is assuming the role of optimizing the relation between energy producers and consumers, and to monitor the implementation and use of demand response. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with experts in energy from Hungary, Romania and Serbia, on workshops with experts and a wider online survey with end customers for electricity. The results indicate that there is a willingness potential to implement demand response programs with aggregators as intermediaries between energy providers and end consumers of electrical energy

Risk in the Trade and Production of Foods

Economic globalization, a phenomenon specific to the modern society, leads to the diversity of trades with food commodity. The current production and trade with foods are characterized by the occurrence of certain new products, designed to certain niche segments of consummers, the toning of food traditions, adaption and modification of food customs in different areas of the globe, modifications in the consummer's behavior. Together with the risk classic factors, there occur and develop new risk factors, which influence the production, trade and consumption of foods

THE EFFECTS OF HORSE MEAT SCANDAL ON ROMANIAN MEAT MARKET

Sustainable business in the domestic production of meat must meet both the usual Requirements regarding quality, safety for customer and New Challenges in the European meat market. The Romanian food industry must meet the challenge of recent suspicions regarding the substitution of beef meat with horse meat. The modern applicable to meat traceability systems and authentication procedures can be considered as new ways to support fair trade and transparency, THUS, removing suspicions that appeared lately. Lack of safety measures in the field can affect business continuity critically, creating significant losses

Key Factors Which Contribute to the Participation of Consumers in Demand Response Programs and Enable the Proliferation of Renewable Energy Sources

Consumer behaviour in the energy field is playing a more important role in the new approach dominated by the proliferation of renewable energy sources. In this new context, the grid has to balance the intermittent and uncertain renewable energy generated, and find solutions, also, on the consumer side for increasing the stability and reliability of the energy system. The main de-mand response solutions are price and incentive based, but there is a need to identify the main factors which can influence their efficiency due to the fact that there is a lack of knowledge about the preferences of consumers. The main goal of this article is to identify the main demand response solutions and the related key factors which influence the participation of consumers in demand response programs and may contribute to the spread of renewable energy sources. For this research, semi-structured interviews were organised with experts in energy from Romania, Hungary and Serbia, as well as workshops with experts in energy, and an online survey with customers for electricity. This article reduces the gap between the results of technical studies, related in demand response programs, and their practical implementations, where the consumer behaviour and its social dimensions are neglected even though, in reality, they are playing the main role. The results suggest that the consumer’s participation in demand response programs is highly influenced by different aspects related to the promotion of the renewable energy and the reduction of CO2 emissions and the global warming impact