Brussels, 24/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - After a short discussion at the Council in Brussels on Friday of direct sales techniques, the President of the Competitiveness Council, Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, said not enough preparations had been made and the issue had been sent back to COREPER (the Permanent Representatives' Committee) to try and reach agreement for the next Competitiveness Council (25 November).
A blocking minority (France, Italy and Germany) is highly opposed to the regulation drafted by the European Commission in October 2001 to remove obstacles to sales techniques like price reductions, special offers, free gifts and promotional games. The three countries want the regulation to take the form of a directive, which would give Member States more room for manoeuvre when it comes to transposing the legislation into domestic law.
The Dutch Presidency had put forward three options in an attempt to strike a compromise - 1) a directive including the wording 'the principle of countries of origin' whereby the legislation of the company's country of origin would apply in legal disputes; 2) a directive not including the phrase on countries or origin but with a clause on free circulation (guaranteeing the recognition of agreements made in another Member State) and the option for Member States to be granted exceptions to be able to ban promotional activities on the grounds of health or public order; and 3) a regulation including a mutual recognition clause strictly limited to information rules set out in the regulation.
Commissioner Frits Bolkestein explained at the beginning of the discussions that he preferred the first option, but would agree to the third in the aim of striking agreement. He told reporters that the country of origin concept lay at the heart of the Single Market.
The German representative explained during the debate that he could agree to none of the options, saying that the instrument could not be a regulation (as he had been saying from the start). The important thing for Germany is the location where the business takes place, rather than the company's country of origin. He said that people were saying it was a simplification policy, but that SMEs were telling him that the regulation was over-restrictive and set over-detailed information requirements.
The French minister, Caludie Haignere, said that France's concerns covered the information to be provided to consumers and the inclusion of a series of regulated professions. Off the record, French a diplomat said that he 'hated' the regulation.
The Italian representative said that mutual recognition should not be extended and Italy could not lift its reservations because of sales promotion techniques in the form of games. The Dutch Presidency had suggested setting maximum prize limits of 100,000 euros, but he said that all the same, games and competitions should not be included in the directive.
Laurens Jan Brinkhorst gave up at this point, suspending the debate since no agreement was in sight after three years of wrangling. He said it would not be possible to give Commissioner Bolkestein a leaving present but hoped he would get his present before his term of office comes to an end in November.