Brussels, 15/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - MEPs in charge of the internal market and industry seem broadly satisfied with the draft legislation on online shopping and portability of copyright. This emerged from the report by Eveline Gebhardt (S&D, Germany) and Kaja Kallas (ALDE, Estonia) adopted by a parliamentary committee in the evening of Monday 14 December by 80 to 6, with 3 abstentions.
The resolution is not legislative, but there was plenty of activity around it at the EP. Eight parliamentary committees were involved (two with basic responsibility and six others consulted, some with binding opinions), with the tabling of 1,287 amendments (later consolidated into 54 compromise amendments) and a 200-odd page voting list. And rightly so: the report is an overview of work currently being carried out by the European Commission to create a digital single market (see EUROPE 11443). The report is a reaction to the roadmap unveiled by the Commission on 6 May this year (see EUROPE 11309) with details presented on 9 December for copyright and e-commerce (see EUROPE 11449). It therefore mentions themes as diverse as copyright protection, the economics of sharing and revision of the telecoms package.
By and large, the MEPs feel that the EU framework for the digital single market should be based on the right balance between consumer projection and measures to encourage corporate competitiveness.
Copyright. The MEPs feel that the proposal on copyright portability, which would allow a consumer to travel with content legally acquired in his country of residence, is an important “first step” towards the end of geographical blocking, which the MEPs feel is unjustified since it prevents web users from accessing content put online in another member state. No unjustified blocking is acceptable, but territoriality must be protected at the same time, said co-rapporteur Eveline Gebhardt, explaining to this newsletter that her report did not prescribe a solution.
The report takes a position on the question of exceptions to copyright, in response to the recent Commission communication. It warns against the indiscriminate issuing of compulsory pan-European licences and calls for a balanced, targeted and format-neutral approach to exceptions to copyright, motivated by genuine need and without damaging European cultural diversity, its financing and fair compensation for authors. Extending exceptions to document searches and information should only apply when the user has legal access and should be developed in consultation with all stakeholders after an evidence-based impact assessment, explains the report.
E-commerce and the shared economy. The two EP committees are concerned about the various national approaches taken by the member states to date on regulating the internet and the shared economy (such as Uber, eBay and Airbnb.). The resolution calls on the European Commission to verify whether potential questions relating to online platforms can be solved by properly applying existing rules. More generally, the MEPs feel that consumers should benefit from the same rights whether purchasing online or using traditional methods. They want consumers to have access to cheaper and more effective cross-border parcel deliveries.
Audiovisual services. The report suggests extending the scope of the audiovisual media directive (2007/65/EC) to providers of online audiovisual media platforms and user interfaces. They say the criteria for determining which audiovisual rules should apply to audiovisual media services should include the country of origin of advertising revenue, the language of the service provided, the audience the advertising is aimed at and content, in order to combat companies shopping around for the most favourable legal system.
The final resolution will be put to the vote at the EP's plenary sitting in Strasbourg in January 2016. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)