35 Amendments of Dita CHARANZOVÁ related to 2017/0353(COD)
Amendment 131 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) In order to guarantee the free movement of products within the Union, it is necessary to ensure that products fulfil requirements providing a high level of protection of public interests such as health and safety in general, health and safety in the workplace, protection of consumers, protection of the environment and public security. Robust enforcement of these requirements is essential to the proper protection of these interests and to create the conditions in which fair competition in the Union market for goods can thrive. Rules are therefore necessary to ensure this enforcement throughout the internal market, including on productsregardless of whether products are traded in shops or online and regardless of whether they are produced domestically or entering the Union from third countries.
Amendment 132 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 a (new)
Recital 1 a (new)
(1a) The value of products subject to Union harmonisation rules amounts to more than EUR 2 400 billion per year representing 69 % of the overall value of manufacturing products in the Union.
Amendment 133 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 b (new)
Recital 1 b (new)
(1a) Non-compliant products cause harm to buyers and law-abiding undertakings alike. In practice, non- compliance means that citizens are exposed to potentially dangerous products or that the environment is put at risk. Furthermore, non-compliance means that undertakings selling compliant products face distorted competition which cuts corners or deliberately flouts the rules in order to gain a competitive edge.
Amendment 157 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 does not set explicit obligations on how market surveillance is to be organised at national level and leaves it to the prerogative of Member States. As a consequence, market surveillance remains fragmented in the Union and market surveillance authorities find it difficult to enforce their decisions in other Member States, due to the territoriality of their administrative decisions, their enforceability and language issues. In order to ensure that the Union harmonisation legislation on products is correctly enforced, market surveillance authorities should therefore have a common set of investigative and enforcement powers, allowing for enhanced cooperation between market surveillance authorities and more effective deterrence for economic operators that willingly infringe Union harmonisation legislation. Those powers should be sufficiently robust to tackle the enforcement challenges of Union harmonisation legislation, along with the challenges of e-commerce and the digital environment and to prevent economic operators from exploiting gaps in the enforcement system by relocating to Member States whose market surveillance authorities are not equipped to tackle unlawful practices. In particular, the powers should ensure that information and evidence can be exchanged between competent authorities so that enforcement can be undertaken equally in all Member States.
Amendment 160 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19 a (new)
Recital 19 a (new)
(19a) There should be effective, speedy and accurate exchange of information among the Member States and between the Member States and the Commission. Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 includes a number of legal, administrative and financial tools (e.g. Information and Communication System on Market Surveillance (ICSMS) and Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products (RAPEX)) which enable coordination among market surveillance authorities in the Union. However, evidence shows that those tools are not exploited to the extent sufficient to trigger effective coordination and efficient work sharing among the market surveillance authorities. The overall degree of cross-border cooperation therefore remains insufficient and should be increased.
Amendment 162 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19 b (new)
Recital 19 b (new)
(19a) The provisions of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 have been implemented in many different and specific forms at national levels. Differences emerge not only in terms of distribution of competences between market surveillance authorities but also in terms of internal coordination mechanisms at national level, level of deployed financial resources dedicated to market surveillance, market surveillance strategies and approaches, powers of inspections, sanctions and penalties for product non-compliance. The lack of uniformity leads to market surveillance being more rigorous in some Member States than in others. This might result in a less effective deterrence power, and an unequal playing field among businesses in some Member States also potentially imbalances in the level of product safety throughout the Union.
Amendment 180 #
It also provides a framework for the market surveillance of such products to ensure that those products fulfil requirements providing a high level of protection of public interests such as health and safety in general, health and safety in the workplace, the protection of consumers, protection of the environment and, security and cyber- security.
Amendment 194 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 15
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 15
(15) ‘serious risk’ means any serious risk, including a serious risk where the effects are not immediate, requiring rapid intervention and follow-up by the market surveillance authorities, including a risk where the effects may not be immediate;
Amendment 197 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 22 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 22 a (new)
(22a) ‘online marketplace’ means a service provider which allows consumers to conclude online contracts with traders and consumers on the online marketplace’s online interface;
Amendment 239 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 1
Where Union harmonisation legislation provides for the drawing up of an EU declaration of conformity, manufacturers shall make the declaration publicly available on their website or, in the absence of a website, by any other means that allows the declaration to be easily and readily accessed by the general public in the Union free of charge.
Amendment 246 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 1 a (new)
The Product Contact Points shall, together with the Commission, prepare the general product requirements laid down by Union law and provide them to economic operators in a transparent, accessible and user-friendly way.
Amendment 247 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Such information may be published online, in order to raise awareness about the general product requirements laid down by Union law among economic operators.
Amendment 266 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Market surveillance authorities may enter into memoranda of understanding with businesses or organisations representing businesses or end-users for the carrying out, or financing, of joint activities aimed at raising awareness, providing guidance in relation to the general requirements laid down by Union law, as well as identifying non-compliance or promoting compliance in specific geographical areas or with respect to specific categories of product, in particular with respect to products presenting a serious risk or with respect to products that are often notified as dangerous in the Rapid Alert System for Non-Food Consumer Products (RAPEX).
Amendment 271 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Any memorandum of understanding shall include strict provisions aimed at ensuring the confidentiality, the objectivity, the independence and impartiality of the parties, the information and the activities concerned. Where any of its parties is in breach of any such provisions, a memorandum of understanding shall be terminated.
Amendment 276 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1
Article 10 – paragraph 1
1. Market surveillance authorities shall establish appropriate and effective communication and coordination mechanisms with other market surveillance authorities.
Amendment 289 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 3
Article 11 – paragraph 3
3. The single liaison office of a Member State shall be responsible for coordinating the enforcement and market surveillance activities of the market surveillance authorities designated by that Member State. It shall also be responsible for the coordination of market surveillance activities performed in cooperation with other authorities responsible for the control of products entering Union territory, in particular with custom authorities.
Amendment 294 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 4
Article 11 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall ensure that their market surveillance authorities and single liaison office have the necessary resources, including sufficient budgetary and other resources, staffing, expertise, procedures and other arrangements for the proper performance of their duties.
Amendment 298 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) the effective coordination with other market surveillance authorities in Union territory.
Amendment 347 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – point c a (new)
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – point c a (new)
(ca) the specific enforcement actions planned in order to reduce the occurrence of non-compliance as regards products sold online to end-users within Union territory, including, where relevant, the minimum control levels envisaged for categories of those products which have significant levels of non-compliance;
Amendment 361 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 3 – point c
Article 14 – paragraph 3 – point c
(c) the power to have access to any relevant documents, data or information related to an instance of non-compliance, in any form or format and irrespective of its storage medium or the place where it is stored;
Amendment 369 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 3 – point e – point 3
Article 14 – paragraph 3 – point e – point 3
(3) to request any representative or a relevant member of staff of the economic operator to give explanations of facts, information or documents relating to the subject-matter of the inspection and to record their answers;
Amendment 387 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 3 – point m
Article 14 – paragraph 3 – point m
(m) the power to order the restitution of profits obtained as a result of anrepeated and intentional instances of non-compliance;
Amendment 393 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 5
Article 14 – paragraph 5
Amendment 396 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 a (new)
Article 14 a (new)
Article 14a Exercise of powers or duties of market surveillance authorities 1. Market surveillance authorities shall exercise powers set out in this Article proportionately, efficiently and effectively in accordance with Union law, including the principles of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, applicable procedural safeguards and the Union rules on data protection, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council 1a, and national law. 2. Market surveillance authorities shall in any case exercise the powers set out in point 1 of point (e) and in point (h) of Article 14(3) by application to courts competent to grant the necessary decision, including, where appropriate, by appeal, if the application to grant the necessary decision is not successful. 3. Investigation and enforcement measures adopted when applying this Regulation shall adequately reflect the nature and degree of the non-compliance and the overall actual and potential harm caused by it. 4. When a decision as to whether to impose a penalty and on the amount of such penalty to be imposed in each individual case is being made, due regard shall be given to the following: (a) the nature, gravity and duration of the non-compliance, taking into account the number of consumers affected and the level of damage suffered by them; (b) the intentional and negligent character of the non-compliance; (c) any action taken by the manufacturer to mitigate the damage suffered by consumers; (d) any relevant previous non- compliance committed by the manufacturer; (e) the degree to which the manufacturer has cooperated with market surveillance authorities in order to remedy the non-compliance and mitigate its potential adverse effects. _________________ 1a Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1).
Amendment 401 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 15 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Market surveillance authorities shall perform sufficient and appropriate checks on the characteristics of products on an adequate scale, by means of documentary checks and, where appropriate, physical and laboratory controls on the basis of a representative sample.
Amendment 425 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 2
Article 19 – paragraph 2
2. If a product presenting a serious risk has been made available on the market, market surveillance authorities shall immediately notify the Commission of any voluntary measures taken and communicated by an economic operator.
Amendment 430 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 4 – point a
Article 20 – paragraph 4 – point a
(a) carry out product-testing in relation to market surveillance activities and investigations, including, in particular, on behalf of the Member States that do not yet possess their own testing capacities;
Amendment 433 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Article 20 – paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Duplication of efforts between Member States and Union testing facilities shall be avoided.
Amendment 435 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 4 b (new)
Article 20 – paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Market surveillance authorities shall recognise the tests performed by Union testing facilities.
Amendment 436 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 20 – paragraph 5
Article 20 – paragraph 5
5. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts specifying the procedures for the designatingon and the functioning of Union testing facilities. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 63.
Amendment 464 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Article 25 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 (new)
The parties concerned shall, whenever feasible, be given an opportunity to submit their views before the adoption of the measure. If this has not been done in advance because of the urgency of the measures to be taken, they shall be given such opportunity in due course after the measure has been implemented.
Amendment 465 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Article 25 – paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Paragraph 3 shall not apply in case of formal non-compliance of products as defined in point (22b) of Article 3.
Amendment 476 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 26 – paragraph 7 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
Article 26 – paragraph 7 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part
By 31 March each year, Member States shall submit to the Commission detailed statistical data covering controls performed by the authorities designated under paragraph 1 with respect to products subject to Union harmonisation legislation during the previous calendar year, including data covering:
Amendment 513 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 32 – paragraph 3
Article 32 – paragraph 3
3. The Commission shall establish separate or joint administrative coordination groups for all the instruments of Union harmonisation legislation listed in the Annex to this Regulation. Each administrative coordination group shall be composed of representatives of the competent national market surveillance authorities and, ifwhere appropriate and in line with the subject matter in question, representatives of the single liaison offices, and representatives of the relevant business associations and of consumer associations.
Amendment 516 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 32 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 32 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. As much as possible, the meeting of the EUPC Board as well as the meetings of the administration groups shall be conducted in an open and transparent manner.