The draft own-initiative report by Salvatore De Meo (EPP, Italian) on third-country products through e-commerce and online platforms was discussed by the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Affairs (IMCO) on Tuesday 18 March.
The committee was virtually unanimous in its support for this report. In it, Salvatore De Meo reiterates the points already made (dangerous products, very large volumes of packages, lack of compliance and deleterious impact on European competitiveness) and “urges” the Member States to “increase the funding and resources of market surveillance and customs authorities”.
“Current standards are not sufficient. We need to strengthen the capacities of the authorities with resources and effective cooperation tools”, he insisted during the debate.
The report was described as a “good approach” by Maria Guzenina (S&D, Finnish), who said that she wanted to see more “third party liability” constraints included.
Gheorghe Piperea (ECR, Romanian), for his part, raised the idea of including “contractual liability for the platform” when a customer “cannot receive their product because it has been seized by customs for non-conformity”.
The European Commission and the Member States have already addressed the issue (see EUROPE 13491/3), in particular by relying on the legislative and indicative arsenal already in force and by accelerating the reform of European customs (see EUROPE 13572/5).
The deadline for the tabling of amendments is 20 May. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)