21 Amendments of Ivan ŠTEFANEC related to 2018/2008(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 a (new)
Citation 22 a (new)
– having regard to the various surveys, studies and tests carried out in the last years by the Food Inspection Authorities in many Member States in Central and Eastern Europe,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas all EU citizens deserve equal treatment in regard to food and non-food products sold on the Single Market;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes, therefore, the recent initiatives announced by the Commission to address this issue, in particular its commitment to delivering a common testing methodology and allocating a budget for its preparation and enforcement and for collection of further evidence; calls for the Commission to coordinate national competent authorities in applying the common testing methodology developed by the JRC in order to ensure a unified interpretation of the methodology by the Member States. Calls on the Commission to come up with a clear mechanisms on how to deal with the cases of the dual quality and propose a suitable structure and process on how Member States together with businesses should tackle the potential dual quality of products;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the adoption by Parliament of a pilot project for 2018 that will involve a series of market investigations into several categories of consumer products to assess different aspects of dual quality; expects the project to be launched, conducted and published in time, as initially planned;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Encourages the Parliament, Commission and Member States to make use of all available tools, including pilot and national projects to further asses different aspects of dual quality of foods;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Agrees with the Commission that in the single market, where consumers have a general understanding of the principles of free circulation and equal access to goods, consumers do not, a priori, expect branded products sold in different countries to differ from each other; also agrees with the Commission that the food and drink operators do not necessarily have to offer identical products across the different geographical areas;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that the Notice is perceived as primarily intended for foodstuffs; believes that provisions on the application of consumer protection law should be applied to all food and non- food products in general;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that there may be different requirements for the control methods of the national competent authorities; considers that the aim of the work to develop a and they should therefore use the methodology ldeveloped by the Commission’´s Joint Research Centere should be clearly stated so as to prevent conflicting interpretations;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Reminds the European Commission of its commitment to better monitoring and enhancing the correct application of EU legislation;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Is concerned about restrictions placed on traders when it comes to purchasing goods that may have a negative effect onin consequence limit consumer choice; urges the Commission to identify factors that contribute to a fragmentation of the single market in goods, in particular territorial supply constraints and their implications;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Invites the European Commission, where appropriate, to make use of competition law to tackle contractual and non-contractual practices that illegitimately restrict consumers’ ability to benefit fully from the Single Market;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises the value of broad and timely public debate that leads to increased consumer awareness about products and their characteristics; notes that some manufacturers and owners of private labels have already announced changes to recipes; highlights the role of industry in improving transparency with regard to product composition;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls for the increased support of national consumer organisations, so they can build capacity, develop their testing activities and contribute, alongside with competent authorities, to tracking and exposing situations of unfair product differentiation;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Invites consumer organisations to play an more active role in the public debate and in informing consumers and serve as a first point of contact for the consumers to ensure their rights on the Single Market; calls on the Member States to uphold the functioning of the consumer organizations by strengthening their role to fulfil their tasks in consumer protection;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Believes that in the light of previous experiences of competent authorities thus far suggest that they have beenwere unable individually to tackle effectively any specific cases of dual quality at national level; calls on Member States to better enforce the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive in order to better ensure that consumers are informed about food products when making a purchasing decision and are not misled by unfair marketing practices; stresses that the Member States shall ensure that the competent national authorities possess adequate technical, financial and human capacities in order to ensure effective enforcement;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Stresses that any action taken against business operators by enforcement authorities must be proportionate and non-discriminatory;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Draws attention to the fact that the issue of alleged dual quality is directly related to the essence of the functioning of the single market and consumer trust and therefore requires a solution at Union level, preferably via directly enforceable measures; is convinced that given the possibility of action at national level, Union-level action would safeguard the integrity of the single market;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Welcomes the European Commission’s efforts to assist national enforcement authorities in identifying unfair commercial practices in the marketing of food products on the basis of the EU harmonised methodology being developed by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission as this issue is directly related to the essence of the functioning of the Single Market and consumer trust;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Recalls that Annex I to the UCPD was drawn up to enable the identification of certain unfair practices and the provision of a more immediate response; agrees with the Commission that listing a practice in Annex I leads to greater legal certainty; underlines together with the Commission that the free movement of goods does not necessarily mean that every product must be identical in every corner of the Single Market; emphasises that business operators are permitted to market and sell goods with different composition and characteristics based on consumer preferences and food reformulation provided that they fully respect EU legislation; however, stresses that these products should not lead to their different quality when they are offered to consumers on different markets;
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Welcomes the Commission´s New Deal for Consumers presented by the European Commission on 11 April 2018 which will tackle dual quality of consumer products by updating the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive in order to make explicit that national authorities can assess and address misleading commercial practices involving the marketing products as being identical in several EU countries, if their composition or characteristics are significantly different;