European consumers will soon be able to purchase products and services more easily on the Internet in other member states then their own. Negotiators from Parliament, the Council and Commission managed to obtain an agreement on the draft regulation on unfair geo-blocking, during the night of 20 November.
Overall, the compromise contains the Council position on the scope of application (including relations between companies and, initially, excluding copyright protected non-audiovisual content). On the other hand, it also includes the European Parliament position on passive sales (primacy of the new rules on competition rules) and closely approaches its position on the period of transposition (nine months).
New rules
In practice, the new rules make it obligatory for traders to make their goods and services accessible to all EU consumers without discrimination in terms of access to prices, sales or payment conditions (see EUROPE 11558). It prohibits all discrimination based on nationality, place of residency or establishment of customers. The only derogations possible are those relating to objective reasons, such as VAT or certain legal provisions relating to the public interest.
The regulation covers the sale of goods without physical delivery, the sale of services provided electronically and the sale of services provided in a specific physical place. It excludes goods and services that are not listed in the 2016/123 “services” directive, such as social, transport or audiovisual services. It is the result of a bitterly negotiated compromise and also excludes copyright protected non-audiovisual content. Nonetheless, in an effort to satisfy Parliament, the text includes a revision clause to take effect two years after the entry into force of the text, which compels the Commission to examine the inclusion of this kind of content in the regulation’s field.
The compromise also includes a nine-month transposition deadline. The Commission, with Parliament’s backing, wanted to reduce this period to six months, while the Council wanted to extend it to 18 months. The European Parliament rapporteur, Roza Thun (EPP, Poland) responded by stating, “If this provisional agreement the Council and Parliament confirm this agreement by Christmas, consumers will be able to purchase goods in all member states without being blocked or redirected”. Speaking on Twitter the previous day, Vice President Andrus Ansip called on the co-legislators to reach an agreement on this text in an effort to make Father Christmas’s life easier.
It should be pointed out that this text does not oblige traders to deliver their products in another country other than the one in which they are established. The negotiators are currently working, however, on another draft regulation enhancing regulatory surveillance and price transparency for parcels (see EUROPE 11558). This text is the subject of another inter-institutional meeting on 20 November. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)