Brussels, 18/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - According to a study published on Friday 18 March by the European Commission, e-commerce is clashing with geo-blocking in Europe. These preliminary results (80 pages) bolster a broader study on barriers to cross-border e-commerce planned for the middle of 2016 as part of a public consultation.
The European Commission began to identify possible competition problems on the e-commerce markets in May 2015, in compliance with Regulation 1/2003. It interviewed more than 1,400 retailers and providers of digital content from all EU member states. Nonetheless, the study was not statistically representative of all EU e-commerce markets, insofar as the number of respondents in each member state varied.
This initiative demonstrated that geo-blocking, which consists of preventing Internet consumers purchasing consumer goods or accessing digital content services due to their geographical location or country of residence, constitutes a common practice in Europe. Therefore, 38% of retailers questioned who sell consumer goods and 68% of digital content providers indicated that they resorted to geo-blocking when consumers were located in other EU member states. This blocking involves a refusal to deliver abroad or accept foreign payment methods and, to a lesser extent, redirecting or blocking access to websites. With regard to digital content services, this selection is mainly carried out on the basis of an IP address (Internet protocol) of the user and 59% of content providers questioned said that they were submitted to a contractual obligation involving geo-blocking to their suppliers.
The Commission emphasised that this data should not be used to prejudge the flagging up of problems relating to anti-competitive practices or the opening of procedures for cartels or abuse of dominant position. Margrethe Vestager, the commissioner for competition policy, said that “Not only does geo-blocking frequently prevent European consumers from buying goods and digital content online from another EU country, but some of that geo-blocking is the result of restrictions in agreements between suppliers and distributors. Where a non-dominant company decides unilaterally not to sell abroad, that is not an issue for competition law. But where geo-blocking occurs due to agreements, we need to take a close look whether there is anti-competitive behaviour, which can be addressed by EU competition tools”.
A more detailed analysis of all the different results from the sectoral investigation currently underway and involving e-commerce will be included in a preliminary report to be published in the middle of this year, at the end of the public consultation. This will not just involve the subject of geo-blocking but also any other potential competition problems relating to e-commerce markets. The final report is planned for the first quarter of 2013.
Preliminary report: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/ecommerce_swd_en.pdf . (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)