These prior actions included important steps in the areas of fiscal policy, tax reform, revenue administration, public administration reform, privatisation and financial sector restructuring.

Subject to confirmation of compliance with the last outstanding prior action, national procedures may thereafter be finalised and are expected to be completed by 29 July.

Once this process has been satisfactorily concluded, the EFSF will be authorised to release the first sub-tranche of the next installment, amounting to EUR 2.5 billion, according to the programme.”

The report, which is the result of investigations carried out by the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC, found that in 54 civilians died in detention centres in 2010, and 56 in 2011. By comparison, 101 deaths were recorded in 2012.

Out of the 101 deaths, 24 were caused by torture or ill-treatment, a finding that the report describes as “extremely worrying,” according to a news release. The other deaths were caused by the poor conditions in the centres, including overcrowding, malnutrition, limited access to health care and lack of resources.

“Someone deprived of their liberty, should never be allowed to die of hunger or ill-treatment,” said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay. “It is the responsibility of the State to keep prisoners alive and in good health, in accordance with international standards. The very serious and persistent problems surrounding detention conditions in the DRC need to be addressed without further delay.”

While recognizing the direct impact that the lack of resources and equipment in the penitentiary services has on the number of deaths in detention, the report placed much of the blame on the rampant corruption and lack of transparency affecting the management of prisons in the DRC.

The Special Representative of the Secretary General, Roger Meece, said the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the country (MONUSCO) would welcome practical measures taken by the Government to remedy the situation, including the suspension of high-ranking officials suspected of corruption.

“The international community should support the Government’s efforts to reform the prison system and improve conditions of detention,” Mr. Meece said.

The report reminds the Government of its obligations to protect and take care of people in detention, and points out that it is the State’s responsibility to ensure that their basic needs are satisfied, particularly those that, if neglected, might result in loss of life.

EU wide, there has been a slight increase in trust in consumer organisations (72% vs. 69% in 2010) and satisfaction with existing consumer protection measures (58% vs. 57% in 2010). Encouragingly, those who experienced problems were more likely to complain about them (82% compared to 77% in 2010), which can be interpreted as a sign of growing consumer empowerment. In addition, more EU consumers were satisfied with the way their complaints were handled (58% vs. 52% in 2010). The public perception of redress mechanisms improved further in 2011, continuing the upward trend since 2008. Slightly over half of EU consumers find it easy to resolve disputes with sellers/providers through alternative dispute resolution schemes (ADR); yet, actual use of ADR remains low.

On the negative side, unfair commercial practices are perceived to have become more prevalent since 2010 (see more details below). In addition, slightly fewer consumers (68% vs. 70% in 2010) have confidence in the safety of products.

The majority of Member States (19 out of 27 countries) increased their scores compared to 2010. Of these, 13 Member States have seen the index grow by more than 2 points (on a scale of up to 100). The biggest improvements (of around 6 points) were experienced by Bulgaria, Belgium, France and Denmark. In the case of Bulgaria, this is due to a considerable increase (of 12, 9 and 7 points, respectively) in consumer trust in public authorities, consumer organisations and sellers/providers. In addition, more consumers find it easy to resolve disputes through ADR and the courts (+7 and +11 percentage points, respectively).

The countries with the best conditions are Luxembourg, United Kingdom, Denmark, Austria, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium Germany, France and Sweden, all of which are above the EU average.

The Scoreboard measures the quality of consumer conditions in EU countries through the Consumer Conditions Index.

The objective is to create a long-term data set, which can be used by national policy-makers and stakeholders to estimate the impact of their policies on consumer welfare and to compare national outcomes with those of other countries, thereby promoting best practices.

The key components of the Consumer Conditions Index are the quality of regulation concerning consumers and businesses, the effectiveness of resolving disputes and handling complaints, consumer trust in authorities, retailers, advertisers and consumer organisations, and the degree of trust in the safety of products on the market

The key indicators used to calculate the Consumer Conditions Index are percentages of consumers (and/or retailers as relevant) who: feel adequately protected by existing regulations and law enforcement; trust public authorities to protect their consumer rights; trust consumer organisations to protect their consumer rights; trust sellers / providers to respect their rights; did not encounter misleading or fraudulent advertising and offers; complained when faced with a problem; were satisfied with how their complaint was handled; find it easy to resolve disputes thorough alternative-dispute-resolution (ADR) schemes; find it easy to resolve disputes through courts; do not think that a significant number of products on the markets are unsafe.