EU Member States are preparing to adopt their position on the unfair practices in platform-to-business (P2B) relations draft regulation. A new draft compromise will be submitted to the national ambassadors on Friday 16 November with the aim of arriving at a political agreement in principle ('general approach') at the Competitiveness Council meeting on 29 November.
As a reminder, the proposed Regulation requires platform intermediaries and search engines to be transparent about their ranking parameters and conditions of use (including the termination of referencing) and to strengthen the abilities of an aggrieved company to claim recourse. The vote in Parliament of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) is scheduled for 6 December.
As for the Council, the Presidency is seeking an agreement for the Council meeting on 29 November. According to a document published by Politico, Member States are moving towards a text that corresponds to the Commission's proposal. The text retains the requirement for transparency regarding the main parameters determining classification (Article 5), but adds that, where this classification can be influenced through direct or indirect remuneration, the supplier must give a description of these possible influences and the effects that such remuneration may have on the classification.
It retains the introduction of a collective redress system (Article 12), while specifying that only associations and organisations recognised by the Member States and included in a list published in the Official Journal of the EU (updated every 6 months) are entitled to lodge a complaint. The text also introduces a fourth criterion aimed at combating the influence of third parties in selecting such organisations. As regards the mediation system, the compromise text states in its recitals that it is a "voluntary" system, although "on-line intermediation services must examine the possibility of engaging in mediation in good faith". However, it requires intermediation platforms to identify at least two mediators (compared to only one in the Commission's proposal) (Article 10). It further specifies that the internal complaint handling system and the mediation system are not "mandatory" (rather than "not applicable") for small businesses.
Among other changes, the text foresees that a platform that decides to suspend the supply of a good or service must provide an explanation on a durable medium and that this explanation must be provided 30 days before the suspension when it concerns all the goods and services proposed (Article 4). The text also provides for the new rules to enter into force one year after publication in the Official Journal, rather than six months as proposed by the Commission. It excludes SEO optimization services and services that revolve around ad blocking software from the scope of application.
However, this text could still evolve, particularly following the discussion of the attachés held on 12 November in Brussels. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)