Brussels, 18/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - Even though the vast majority of respondents condemn geo-blocking, not all of them are prepared to accept new European rules on the matter. The companies that refuse a blanket ban for example, appeal, however, for transparency principles, according to the final public consultation report on geo-blocking published on 18 March.
To complement the preliminary findings unveiled at the end of January (see EUROPE11478), the Commission indicates that 90% of consumers have already confronted geo-blocking in the form of a refusal to sell or deliver, price differences between countries or a refusal to grant reductions. 45% of companies participating in this consultation carried out between June 24 September-28 December 2015, recognised that they applied this practice, even though few of them answered this question.
Although the majority of consumers believe there is no reason to block access to websites and other countries (except for explicit legal obligations) it is less clear when the answer comes from companies themselves: half of them believe that geoblocking is necessary for deliveries, while a fifth of them argue the opposite. According to them, differences in guarantees, VAT, consumer rights or language can constitute objective reasons for applying geo-blocking.
In conclusion, 94% of consumers believe that there should be a blanket ban on geo-blocking on digital products. Half of all companies, however, reject the application of identical treatment based on geographical origin.
Results: http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?action=display&doc_id=14819 . (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)