Brussels, 21/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The Culture and Education Parliamentary Committee shares the overall view of the Council on the question of cross-border portability. Its opinion was adopted on 21 January by 25 votes in favour, with 3 against (2 abstentions) but does not define the notion of temporary period abroad and calls for "compulsory and effective" controls.
It should be pointed out that the regulation on cross-border portability seeks to enable consumers subscribing to online content (such as musical films or having acquired content of this kind) obtain access to it not only in their country of residence but also when they are temporarily in another member state of the EU.
In their opinion, the MEPs at the Culture Committee chose not to limit the period of staying abroad to a certain number of days, as previously called for by the French and Italian delegations. They only mention, as does the Council's general approach "a temporary stay". They also propose a strict definition of the country of residence and call on service providers to carry out checks on the basis of a range of criteria, such as the invoice address, bank account, payment of local taxes or samples of the IP address. They also explained that the new obligations applicable to service providers should not lead to increased administration, costs or tariffs and that the principle of territoriality must continue to prevail. The vote at the appropriate committee, the legal affairs committee, is expected to take place in October (discussion in the middle of July and submission of amendments in mid-September). The rapporteur Jean-Marie Cavada (ALDE, France), is then expected to seek support from the Assembly, before launching inter-institutional negotiations with the Council. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)