At the “end of last week” the regulation examining committee approved the draft text preventing unfair trade practices between major platforms like Amazon, Google, Apple and the companies using their services. This news was confirmed to us on 26 March by a source at the European Commission.
The draft regulation seeks to ensure “a harmonised, fair and transparent environment for businesses”. It also provides the rules applying to changes in contractual conditions without prior warning, product “delisting", unexplained account termination, the lack of transparency in the presentation of products, etc.
Search engine covered
In practice, the draft regulation leaked to the press, imposes transparency criteria to re-balance the relationship between a platform and a professional user and introduces an appeals procedure in the event of litigation.
As opposed to the casting submitted to the examining committee at the end of 2017, the new draft text also covers search engines. This follows the fines imposed for the abuse of dominant position on 27 June 2017 on Google after it showed favouritism towards the "Google Shopping" price comparison tool.
Transparency
The text calls on the online intermediation services to make the terms and conditions available before the conclusion of a contract with a professional user and at all stages of the commercial relationship. It explains that these terms and conditions have to specify the classification algorithms applicable and indicate whether it is possible to impact this classification by paying more, for example. It also has to ensure that any update in these terms and conditions should be sufficiently flagged up in advance (in accordance with a “reasonable and proportionate period").
It also calls the intermediation platforms and search engines to provide sufficient justification to any decision involving the withdrawal or suspension of a professional user from a list so that the latter is able decide whether it is able to oppose such action.
Appeals mechanisms
The text also indicates that intermediation services that have more than 50 employees should set up internal services for dealing with complaints. This will encourage alternative conflict resolution through the intervention of a mediator and also calls for half of the legal costs to be shared by the platforms, whilst adding that intervention of a national court is also possible, if needs be.
The European Commission intends to present a raft of measures to strengthen the internal digital market at the end of April. Although these dates have not yet confirmed, it does appear that the Commission will present a raft linked to the data on 24 April. This will include a strategy on artificial intelligence, an initiative on e-health and another on the reuse of public sector information. On 25 April, it is also expected to present a package focusing on platforms, which will contain an initiative on relations between the platforms and their commercial partners, as well as another on fake news. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)