53 Amendments of Alex AGIUS SALIBA related to 2019/2190(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
- having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/515 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 March 2019 on the mutual recognition of goods lawfully marketed in another Member State,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the General Product Safety Directive dates back from 2001 when e-commerce, business models and consumers’ purchase habits were very different;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas a previous reform attempt of the General Product Safety Directive, presented by the European Commission in 2012 could not be successfully concluded so far;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the European market surveillance system is mostly focusing on economic actors present on the European market; whereas developments in ecommerce result in high numbers of direct imports by consumers from third- countries, however many of these products do not respect European Union safety standards and thereby risk harming the consumer, who is often unaware of these hazards;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas product safety by design and by default is fundamental because safety in the design phase can hugely impact the safety of products on the market;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the number of dangerous products notified through the European Safety Gate remains too high as do the sales of dangerous and non-compliant products in brick-and-mortar shops and on online market places, according to the evidence obtained by consumer organizations, to keep consumers safe in the EU internal market;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas in the EU a high number of counterfeit goods were reported as dangerous and posed a serious risk to consumers health and safety;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)
Recital B d (new)
Bd. whereas it is unacceptable that Union consumers are exposed to illegal and unsafe products, that go from containing dangerous chemicals to unsafe software and to other safety hazards;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B e (new)
Recital B e (new)
Be. whereas it is essential to ensure that consumers can really benefit from the internal market;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B f (new)
Recital B f (new)
Bf. whereas the precautionary principle, as laid down in Article 191(2) TFEU and outlined inter alia in the Commission Communication of 2 February 2000entitled "On the precautionary principle", is important for the safety of products and consumers and should be taken into due account when laying down the criteria for assessing the safety of a product;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B g (new)
Recital B g (new)
Bg. whereas applying the precautionary principle means that consumers will be given the benefit of the doubt and products, which might jeopardize their safety will be removed from the market faster;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B h (new)
Recital B h (new)
Bh. whereas it is practically impossible to adopt Union legislation for all consumer products that exist or may be developed, and therefore there is a need for a legislative framework of a horizontal nature to act as a safety net and ensure consumer protection not otherwise ensured, in particular with a view to achieving a high level of protection of health and safety of consumers, as required by Articles 114, 169 and 191 TFEU;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses that the precautionary principle should be the cornerstone of the GPSD revision;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Points out the need to adapt product safety rules to the digital world; asks the Commission to address the challenges ofand potential threats to consumers and their rights, including possible threats to fundamental rights which may be particularly adversely affected by emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT) and robotics in its revision of the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD), and to identify and close gaps within existing legislation such as the Machinery Directive and Radio Equipment Directive, while avoiding duplicating legislation;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Points out the need to adapt product safety rules to the digital world; asks the Commission to address the challenges of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT) and, robotics, and 3D printing, in its revision of the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD), and to identify and close gaps within existing legislation such as the Machinery Directive and, the Radio Equipment Directive, while avoiding duplicating legislationand the Toy Directive, ensuring a consistent approach and a high level of consumer safety;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to redefine the term ‘product’ as part of the revision of the GPSD so that it reflects the complexity of emerging technologies, including AI, IoT and robotics embedded products, stand-alone software and software or updates which entail substantial modification to the product leading to a de facto new product;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Is convinced that AI embedded into products can modify the nature of products, and have an impact on their safety after they have been placed on the market, in particular as a result of software updates or in the case of self-learning technology ; urges the Commission to consider whether ‘placing on the market’ as the decisive moment for the economic operator to guarantee the safety of the product is an approach still fit for purpose; , outlines that continued conformity, also after the installation of software updates, could be more fit for purpose in the digital age;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Agrees AI systems should be safe in order to be trustworthy, as outlined by the High-Level Expert Group in its Ethics Guidelines for trustworthy AI; to support the trustworthiness through standardised certificates, reflecting an external auditing process, informing consumers about the safety and security of AI and products where these are embedded; is convinced that an EU-wide approach to AI, including a common definition, is needed to avoid fragmentation of the internal market, which would undermine the trust of citizens and businesses, create legal uncertainty and weaken the EU’s economic competitiveness;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Considers that AI systems, whether stand alone or embedded in the product, should use high quality and unbiased data sets, as well as explainable, unbiased, transparent and auditable algorithms, in order to be trustworthy and promote consumer protection;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. EStresses that an harmonised and commensurate risk-based assessment framework will not only be efficient from an administrative burdens point of view, but also in terms of enhancing consumer safety; encourages the Commission to develop measures, such as risk-based assessment schemes and conformity assessment mechanisms, where they do not yet exist, to ensure the safety and security by design or default of products with embedded emerging technologies,; and to provide support to SMEs to reduce the burdlso encourages the Commission to develop the risk-based assessment schemes in a way that ensures a consistent approach to the enforcement of product safety legislation; emphasizes that Member States must develop harmonised risk management such measures can createtrategies for AI in the context of their national market surveillance strategies;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses that the lack of enforcement means, in practical terms, that products imported directly to consumers from non-EU countries through online platforms do not require the same level of compliance, as if the products where bought through the traditional chain where an EU-importer or distributor buys the products from a supplier and sell it to European consumers. Is of the opinions that the current gaps in the existing legal framework affect negatively the competitiveness of European companies, in particular SMEs and the rights of European consumers.
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Asks the Commission and the Member States to take account of the autonomous self-learning behaviour of AI throughout a product’s lifetime; calls for human oversight and effective checks on high-risk AI products to ensure product safety; stresses that strong consumer rights, such as a right to transparency, support the development of safe and innovative AI products;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Asks the Commission and the Member States to take account of the autonomous self-learning behaviour of AI throughout a product’s lifetime; calls for human oversight and effectivefor the development of effective and periodic checks on high- risk AI products to ensure product safety, by independent third parties, to ensure product safety and continued conformity with the Union’s Law;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Encourages economic operators to integrate safety mechanisms in emerging technologies, including self-repair mechanisms, to prevent the upload of unsafe software,software that can potentially endanger the safety of consumers, to raise awareness of safety problems of their products, and to ensure safety throughout their lifecycle;
Amendment 116 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Asks the Commission that in its efforts to develop a framework that promotes the decrease of planned obsolescence, takes into account how it can affect the compliance with product safety rules;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to enhancsure connectivity infrastructure, including 5G and/or IPV6, embeds security and privacy by design and by default, in order to improve the safety of connected products and consumers;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Is convinced that the low level cybersecurity of connected devices can compromise product safety, and that this needs to be addressed in the revision of the relevant rules; therefore calls on the European Commission to ensure, in particular, that the scope of the GPSD also takes into account cybersecurity challenges, namely by making firmware updates mandatory;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Calls on the Commission to speed up its efforts to develop a European cybersecurity certification scheme for AI, IoT and robotics productsproducts embedding emerging technologies, such as AI, IoT and robotics products, in accordance with the EU cybersecurity framework, and to create mandatory certification schemes for consumer products that can be quickly updated to adapt to current risks without hindering innovation; further calls on the Commission to propose legislation on mandatory cybersecurity requirements and proper market surveillance mechanisms;
Amendment 140 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Asks the Commission to include in the review of the GPSD the clarification on how it is decided whether a consumer product which, although not foodstuff, resembles foodstuff and is likely to be confused with it, especially by young children, is safe or presents a risk; urges the Commission, by appropriately reviewing the GPSD, to repeal Council Directive 87/357/EEC, of 25 June 1987, on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning products which, appearing to be other than they are, endanger the health or safety of consumers;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 b (new)
Paragraph 13 b (new)
13b. Asks the Commission to consider “child-appealing products", whose design, packaging and characteristics in any way resemble a toy or an object appealing to or intended for use by children, in order to assess their levels of risk and determine appropriate action to mitigate risk, in the context of the revision of the GPSD;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Encourages Member States to increase the resources and expertise of their market surveillance authorities, to enhance cooperation among them, including at cross-border level, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of checks, and to properly staff custom and market surveillance authorities so as to be able to identify unsafe products, in particular from third countries, and prevent their circulation in the internal market; encourages the use, on an initial phase, of the already existing “EU Customs Single Window: Certificates exchange (CERTEX)" project, that later can be enhanced through the future EU Single Window environment for customs project;
Amendment 160 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Encourages the enhancement of the cooperation among national authorities with powers related to product safety such as consumer protection authorities, data protection authorities, cybersecurity authorities, telecoms, market surveillance, and customs authorities to ensure proper enforcement of all consumer relevant aspects related to product safety and consumer rights;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Encourages the use of new technologies such as blockchain in the field of market surveillance for a better traceability of products; namely by identifying counterfeit products, further encourages the use of AI tools by market surveillance authorities, so that data analytics can be used to mitigate risk and improve surveillance whilst smoothing data cooperation;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Urges Member States to set minimum sampling rates; and asks market surveillance authorities to carry out sector- specific mystery shopping on a regular basis at least once a year, in particular for the product categories most notified on the Safety Gate (Rapex)or sweeping days like the ones carried out by the Consumer Protection Cooperation network (CPC), in particular for the product categories most notified on the Safety Gate (Rapex); recommends that these measures are soundly grounded on data analytics tools to optimise performance;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses that products directly purchased by consumers from non-EU economic operators must be subject to effective controls; calls on customs and market surveillance authorities to undertake adequate checks on these products; calls for an obligation for non- EU economic operators to establish an authorised representative in the EU internal market for all consumer products to facilitate accountability and enhance product safety and consumer protection; furthermore calls for online marketplaces to complementarily check whether their traders from outside the EU, which target European consumers, either have appointed an authorised representative or set up a branch in the EU; urges the Commission to consider online marketplaces liable for damages and guarantees, without prejudice to seek redress to the trader a posteriori, if it’s proven they failed to verify that obligation;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Remarks that no comprehensive and reliable data is available on the safety of direct imports from third countries, therefore calls on the European Commission together with Market surveillance authorities to conduct a research into the safety of products directly available to consumers on online platforms or online marketplaces from sellers in third countries;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Asks the Commission to cooperate with the regulatory authorities of third countries, to exchange market surveillance- related information on dangerous products with them, and to include provisions on market surveillance in all bilateraland enforcement in all EU trade agreements;
Amendment 191 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Urges the Commission to improve, at European and international level, cooperation between consumer protection, data protection, cybersecurity, telecoms, market surveillance and customs authorities so as to enable the swift transfer of information on unsafe products; urges the Commission, within the framework provided by Regulation 2019/1020, to enable the use of the Information and Communication System on Market Surveillance (ICSMS), which should run in parallel with the Common Risk Management System (CRMS) system, in order to increase the level of cooperation and exchange of information between Member States and the Commission;
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Asks for the Commission to apply to online marketplaces rules that cover all entities that offer products to consumers in the Union, including if they are established outside the Union in order to better tackle the sale of unsafe products;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. WelcomesTakes note of the Product Safety Pledge7 for online marketplaces, but highlights its voluntary character, limited scope and the lack of more detailed key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure a meaningful assessment of the signatories’ efforts and results; calls on the Commission to evaluate the role marketplaces could play in improving the detection of unsafe products, and to propose mandatory rules on their responsibility, taking into account the special role of SMEsobligations and liability as part of the Digital Services Act, the revision of GPSD and any other relevant legislation; __________________ 7Product Safety Pledge is a voluntary commitment made by online marketplaces with respect to the safety of non-food consumer products sold online by third party sellers from June 2018.
Amendment 214 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Welcomes the Product Safety 7 7 Pledge for online marketplaces, buthowever highlights its voluntary character; calls on the Commission to evaluate the role marketplaces could play in improving the detection of unsafe products, and to propose mandatory rules on their responsibility, taking into account the special role of SMEs and the missing participation of online marketplaces which results in a lack of representation of the sector; calls on the Commission to evaluate the role that production and supply chain, including marketplaces and fulfilment service providers could play in improving the detection of unsafe products, and to propose mandatory rules on their responsibility and on ensuring clear and standardised information to consumers on online marketplaces, regarding the location of the product, the retailer and their consumer rights, as part of the Digital Services Act, the revision of GPSD and any other relevant legislation; __________________ 7Product Safety Pledge is a voluntary commitment made by online marketplaces with respect to the safety of non-food consumer products sold online by third party sellers from June 2018.
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. EncouragesCalls on online marketplaces to react as quickly as possible to notifications from Rapex, as well as to alerts from consumers and consumers' organisations, and to cooperate effectively and proactively with the Member States’ competent authorities by immediately withdrawing unsafe products, sharing relevant information about them and taking measures to avoid that they reappear; asks the Commission to create guidelines for online marketplaces on how to react effectively to unsafe products;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Asks the Commission to ensure that online marketplaces to enhance their cooperation between themselves and competent authorities, consult Rapex before placing products on their websites, remove products identified as unsafe by Rapex swiftly, exchange information on sellers that break the rules, take effective and dissuasive measures against them and their supply chain, andput in place a robust business user authentication in line with the “know your business customer” principle and product verification processes, and also develop an easily accessible tool for consumers to report unsafe products;
Amendment 236 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Asks the Commission to evaluate the necessity of requiringe online platforms and online marketplaces to put in place effective and appropriate safeguards to tackle the appearance of advertisements for unsafe products;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Asks the Commission to evaluate the necessity of requiringe online platforms to put in place effective and appropriate safeguards to tackle the appearance ofand promotion of unsafe products, including via advertisements for unsafe productmisleading guarantees and statements made by the suppliers or by customers;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Welcomes the fact that the European standardisation programme for 2020 addresses the challenges emerging within the Digital Single Market, such as AI, IoT, protection of data, including health data, cybersecurity and automated mobility; asks the Commission to definerequest standards allowing the deployment ofto ensure the safe use of new and interoperable digital technologies to provide for safe EU-wide emerging technologon a uniform basis throughout the EU; calls on the Commission to request harmonised standards for those associated with legislation such as the Machinery Directive, the Radio Equipment Directive, the Toy Directive, when they are updated; also calls on the Commission and Member States to support the systematic participation of consumer associations in standardisation bodies;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Asks the Commission to evaluate how distributed ledger technology and blockchain could enhance the safety of products by improving product traceability throughout the supply chain, including through their standardisation or using the webcrawler tool;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29a. Encourages the Commission to further develop the established infrastructure consisting of metrology, standardisation, accreditation, conformity assessment and market surveillance, in consultation with all partners involved, to meet the new challenges associated with emerging technologies;
Amendment 274 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
Amendment 279 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31
Paragraph 31
31. Asks retailers, and online marketplaces and consumer associations to play a greater role in recalls of unsafe products purchased online or offline by ensuring adequate information is available to consumersthat products are withdrawn swiftly from online listings and from the shelve and oblige retailers and online marketplaces to inform consumers of any safety issues and of any action required to ensure that recalls are carried out effectively; also asks the Commission and Member States to require online marketplaces to verify the identity of their users, buyers and sellers, individuals and businesses, in order to be able to reach then, when recalls are necessary, as quickly as possible;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Urges the Commission and the Member States to enhance cross-border exchange of best practices on recalls, to increase product registration rates so that consumers affected can be more easily identified, even for cross-border purchases, and to enable economic operators to use data - such as loyalty schemes - to reach consumers without infringing GDPR rules; calls on consumer associations to strengthen their cooperation with market surveillance authorities on recall procedures by showing the products identified as unsafe in Rapex on their websites;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to foresee a non-burdensomesimple and harmonised feedback report on recalls by economic operators to be submitted to the market surveillance authorities in order to assess the effectiveness of the recall;