The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has welcomed the recent legislative proposals to put an end to the unjustified geo-blocking of content on the internet. In several opinions adopted on 19 October it stated that it believed that these measures are, however, insufficient for combating barriers to cross-border trade.
In total, the EESC adopted three opinions on the single digital market: one on geo-blocking, another on cross-border parcel delivery services, and a third on wholesale roaming markets.
Overall, the EESC considers that the draft proposal on geo-blocking – which bans traders from applying access or sales conditions or different conditions for payments when selling abroad – constitutes a key element in the single digital market strategy (see EUROPE 11534). Joost Van Iersel (Group I employers, the Netherlands) stated this was "only a small step forward, not a game changer".
In a separate report put together by Raymond Henks (GRII/Luxembourg), EESC members reaffirm their concern that the proposed measures (particularly the introduction of transparency on prices and termination rights, publication of reference offers and an assessment of the affordable nature of tariffs) are scarcely going to encourage the cross-border parcel delivery services involved to adopt reasonable tariffs. They also regret that the Commission has postponed any possibly more binding measures until the end of 2018, whilst waiting to see whether the situation improves by then. In conclusion, the opinion calls on the Commission to address a final appeal to all cross-border parcel delivery services to lower their tariffs and, if needs be, present a regulation and price cap.
The report on the wholesale roaming markets is also drafted by Raymond Henks, who considers that the caps, proposed by the Commission for limiting the prices operators apply between themselves for using their networks when a user travels in the EU, appear “reasonable”. By contrast, the report is much more circumspect with regard to the new possibility offered by the draft regulation being examined on innovative wholesale pricing schemes outside regulated prices (ceilings). According to the EESC, this possibility is likely to lead to cartels and abuses of dominant position. The three opinions were adopted without amendment, by a large majority. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)