Provision of actions to extend the availability and improve the quality of debt-advice services
Debt-advice is a very effective tool to remedy over-indebtedness. The European Commission has decided to promote a project aimed at facilitating the delivery of debt-advice for European citizens, in particular in the countries where debt-advice is not very developed.
Based on the quantitative findings from Task 1, it is evident that additional funding for debt-advice systems is needed to improve the quality of the availability of debt-advice services in the EU. This is particularly evident for the countries where the provision of debt advice is sporadic or not available at all. Besides scaling up funding, it is also essential to create the necessary infrastructure with debt advice organisations and debt advisors to deliver the service.
Within the context of this project two important activities were conducted to contribute to this, including two seminars to exchange good practices (Task 2) and Train-the-Trainers seminars for debt advisors (Task 3). The exchange of good practices contributed to mutual learning among debt advisors and policy makers on specific debt-advice knowledge and tools. The seminars gave participants the possibility to exchange ideas, proposals, and results of past, current and future initiatives of common interest for debt advisors. The Train-the-Trainers seminars contributed to capacity building in six countries (Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain) where debt advice is currently less developed.
Findings showcase a further need for training and initiatives to improve the quality of the European debt-advisors, including through a combination of online and in-person seminars and trainings for debt advisors.
This report was produced under the Consumer Programme 2014-2020, under a service contract with the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) acting under the mandate from the European Commission.
Authors: Willem Pieter de Groen, Beatriz Pozo, Inna Oliinyk, Roberto Musmeci, Silvia Tadi, Apostolos Thomadakis, Cosmina Amariei.