The European Parliament’s position on the draft regulation on unfair geo-blocking is far from clear. Contrary to the draft text drawn up by the rapporteur on the subject, Roza Thun (EPP, Poland) (see EUROPE 11696), on Tuesday 24 January, the Culture and Education Committee responsible for the opinion supported the exemption on content protected by copyright from the scope of application, as well as transport services.
It should be pointed out that the legislative proposal on geo-blocking presented on 25 May 2016 (see EUROPE 11558), compels traders to make their goods and services proposed online accessible whatever the nationality, place of residence or establishment of the consumer. The proposal only covers goods and services listed in the “Services” directive (directive 2006/1 to 3/EC), which excludes social services, transport and audio-visual services. It does not oblige traders to deliver their products in other countries other than the one in which they are established, either.
The European Parliament’s committees for the internal market and consumer protection (IMCO) and legal affairs (JURI) are now working together on the subject. The committees for industry (ITRE) and culture (CULT) are both consulted for their opinion. The CULT Committee was the first to have given its opinion on 24 January: as proposed by the Commission, it agrees on excluding online services from the regulation’s scope and re-examining the situation two years after its entry into force. The report drafted by Therese Comodini Cachia (EPP, Malta), however, suggests paying particular attention to cultural goods and services, such as e-books and musical streaming services. The MEP considers that “these function according to different commercial models and contain specificities that require meticulous and more detailed examination”. Contrary to the European Commission, however, the CULT Committee adopted an amendment submitted by three ALDE MEPs to include transport services into the regulation’s scope of application. For all other issues, the CULT Committee was keen to emphasise that the notion of “client” also covers companies making purchases as final users. It also took a position in support of the minimum use of data and big data generated by e-commerce and online operations. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)