Calling it a "wake up" call, the European Commission (EC) warned that on average, just more than 30 per cent of Christmas lights sold in the European Union (EU) had increased risks of electric shock, fire hazard or both.

"If we are going to 'keep the lights on' at Christmas, consumers need to be confident that there are no compromises on safety," European Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kouneva was quoted as saying in an EC media statement issued on December 2 2009 at the presentation of a report on Christmas light safety.

The report presented the conclusions of a joint market surveillance project that involved authorities from Hungary, Germany, Slovakia, Slovania and the Netherlands. Testing had been carried out between November 2007 and May 2009 on 196 random samples of Christmas light chains across the entire price range, the media statement said.

Many of the lighting chains that had been checked, had failed multiple technical or administrative tests.

Serious non-compliance problems including technical safety requirements related to the construction of plugs, cord anchorages, wiring, insulation and protection against electric shock where found in 30.4 per cent of the lighting chains tested.

Less serious problems, which would not immediately jeopardise the safety of users, were found in an additional 40 per cent of lighting chains tested, the report said.

Required warnings were missing in 41 per cent of the lighting chains tests, while proper user instructions were missing in almost 35 per cent.

Lighting chains regularly failed several of the safety tests, while some failed nearly all the tests and many failed 4 to 7 tests out of a total of over 20 tests.

Levels of safety varied between member states. In Hungary, 96.7 per cent of lighting chains tested showed serious hazards to consumers, while in the Netherlands 56 per cent showed any type of non-compliance, the report said.

"National authorities and industry will redouble efforts to crackdown on the gaps and loopholes that can let shoddy goods into shops and our homes. But consumers also need to work to minimise safety risks: so be vigilant, be active and be aware, that way everyone can have a safe and happy Christmas," Kouneva said.