Activities of Notis MARIAS related to 2016/0148(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws (debate) EL
Amendments (12)
Amendment 198 #
Draft legislative resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
– having regard to the Protocol (No 1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union on the role of national parliaments in the European Union,
Amendment 199 #
Draft legislative resolution
Citation 3 b (new)
Citation 3 b (new)
– having regard to Protocol (No 2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) on the application of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality,
Amendment 200 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) The resulting ineffective enforcement of cross-border infringements, in particular in the digital environment, enables traders to evade enforcement by relocating within the Union, giving rise to a distortion of competition for law-abiding traders operating either domestically or cross- border, and thus directly harming consumers and undermining consumer confidence in cross-border transactions and the Single Market. An increased level of harmonisation setting effective and efficient enforcement cooperation among competent public enforcement authorities is therefore necessary to detect, investigate and order the cessation of intra-Union infringements and widespread infringements,
Amendment 201 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Consumers should also be protected from short-lived intra-Union infringements and widespread infringements that only last for a short period of time but whose harmful effects may continue long after the infringement has stopped. Competent authorities should have the necessary powers to investigate and order a cessation of such infringements in the future, so as to ensure consumer protection,
Amendment 206 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) Competent authorities should have access to all necessary evidence, data and information to determine whether an intra- Union infringement or widespread infringement has occurred, and in particular to identify the trader responsible, irrespective of who possesses this evidence, information or data, of where it is located and of its format. Competent authorities should be able to directly request that third parties in the digital value chain provide all the evidence, data and information necessary, while consistently respecting the principles of personal data protection,
Amendment 213 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In the digital environment in particular, the competent authorities should be able to stopprevent infringements quickly and effectively, notably where the trader selling goods or services conceals hits identity or relocates within the Union or to a third country to avoid enforcement. In cases where there is a risk of serious and irreparable harm to consumers, the competent authorities should to be able to adopt interim measures to prevent such harm or reduce it, including, where necessary, the suspension of a website, domain or a similar digital site, service or account. Furthermore, the competent authorities should have the power to take down or have a third party service provider take down a website, domain or a similar digital site, service or account,
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) In order to ensure that traders are sufficiently deterred from committing or repeating infringements and that they will not profit from those infringements, the rules on penalties which have been adopted by Member States in accordance with the requirements of Union laws that protect consumers’ interests should also be observed and applied to intra-Union infringements and widespread infringements. For those same reasons, consumers should be entitled to redress for harm caused by such infringements.
Amendment 230 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) The effectiveness and efficacy of the mutual assistance mechanism should be improved immediately. Information requested should be provided in a timely manner and the necessary enforcement measures should be adopted in a timely manner. The Commission should therefore set binding time periods for competent authorities to reply to information and enforcement requests, and clarify procedural and other aspects of handling information and enforcement requests, by means of implementing measures,
Amendment 232 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) In the context of widespread infringements and widespread infringement with a Union dimension, the rights of defence of the traders concerned shouldmust be respected. This requires, in particular, giving the trader the right to be heard and to use the language of its choice during the proceedings,
Amendment 233 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) If a trader responsible for the widespread infringement or the widespread infringement with a Union dimension fails to cease the infringement voluntarily, the competent authorities of the Member States concerned should designate one competent authority in a Member State to take the enforcement action adapted to preserveotect the rights of consumers residing in the other Member States concerned by the infringement. That competent authority should be designated, taking into account its capacity to take effective action against the trader, for instance where the trader is established in the Member State of that authority. The designated competent authority should act as if the consumers of the other Member States were its own consumers. Where necessary, to avoid extraterritorial application of the law, several or all the Member States concerned by the infringement should be allowed to adopt enforcement measures at the same time to protect their own consumers or consumers residing in other Member States. This may be needed, for instance, to stop infringements of a similar nature by subsidiaries of a company, established in more than one Member State, which affect the consumers of those Member States only, without an apparent cross-border element (parallel infringements),
Amendment 234 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) The surveillance mechanism and alert mechanism should be strengthenedimproved immediately to ensure the timely and effective detection of widespread infringements. The information which should be exchanged and the follow up required following an exchange of information should be clarified in order to ensure that alerts that require action are duly acted upon and addressed. The Commission should coordinate the functioning of the surveillance mechanism,
Amendment 244 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) This Regulation respects fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union67 . Accordingly this Regulation shouldmust be interpreted and applied with respect to those rights and principles. When exercising the minimum powers set out in this Regulation, the competent authorities should strike an appropriate balance between the interests protected by fundamental rights such as a high level of consumer protection, the freedom to conduct business and freedom of information. _________________ 67 OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.