22 Amendments of Pascal ARIMONT related to 2020/2018(INL)
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas in its communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 19 February 2020 “Shaping Europe’s digital future”, the Commission committed itself to adopting, as part of the Digital Services Act package, new and revised rules for online platforms and information service provider; to reinforcing the oversight over platforms’ content policies in the EU; and, to looking into ex ante rules to ensure that large platforms with significant network effects, acting as gatekeepers, remain fair and contestable for innovators, businesses, and new market entrants; including SMEs, start-ups, entrepreneurs and new market entrants; believes that the Digital Services Act should complement the existing legal framework together with other relevant legislation, such as rules on consumer protection, enforcement, product safety, market surveillance, competition, geo-blocking, audio-visual media services, copyright and the General Data Protection Regulation;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s commitment to submit a proposal for a Digital Services Act package, consisting of a directive amending the E-Commerce Directive and a proposal for a Regulation on ex-ante rules on large platforms with a gatekeeper role, and, on the basis of Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), calls on the Commission to submit such a package on the basis of the relevant Articles of the Treaties, following the recommendations set out in the Annex hereto;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
(a) Stresses the importance to address the remaining unjustified obstacles to the Digital Single Market and avoid protectionist measures, which are sometimes used by Member States to boost national competition. For example, settling the costs of cross-border disputes, suppliers’ restrictions to selling cross- border, delivery-related matters, taxation rules, limited cross-border access to goods and services due to differences in intellectual property rights law, access to information on the relevant regulatory requirements, complex administrative procedures, as well as ensuring that no new barriers are created;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that a future-proof, comprehensive EU-level framework and fair competition are crucial in order to promote the growth of European small- scale platforms, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), micro companies, entrepreneurs and start-ups, prevent market fragmentation and provide European businesses with a level playing field that enables them to better profit from the digital services market and be more competitive on the world stage;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Considers that the Digital Services Act should be based on public values of the Union protecting citizens’ rights should aim to foster the creation of a rich and diverse online ecosystem with a wide range of online services, favourable digital environment and legal certainty to unlock the full potential of the Digital Single Market; believes that the EU should focus on removing existing obstacles in the Digital Single Market and on ensuring consumer and fundamental rights protection as one of the main objectives of the reform of the E-Commerce Directive; considers in this context that the Single Market objective can only be achieved if consumer trust is ensured; believes that the updated E-Commerce rules must clearly establish that consumer law and product safety requirements fall within their scope of application in order to ensure legal certainty;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable EU consumers are to misleading trading practices by dishonest traders selling fake or illegal products online that are not compliant with Union safety rules or imposing unjustified and abusive price increases or other unfair conditions on consumers and therefore stresses the urgent need to set up clear rules in order to enhance consumer protection;
Amendment 207 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that this problem is aggravated by the fact that often the identity of these companies cannot be establishfraudulent companies and individuals cannot be established; and therefore, consumers cannot seek compensation for the damages and losses experienced;
Amendment 285 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Considers that consumers should be properly informed and their rights should be effectively guaranteed when they interact with automated decision-making systems and other innovative digital services or applications; considers it essential that automatic decision-making systems do not generate unfairly biased outputs for consumers in the single market; believes that it should be always possible for consumers to be properly informed about interacting with automated decision-making, and about how to reach a human with decision- making powers to request checks and corrections of possible mistakes resulting from automated decisions, as well as to seek redress for any damage related to the use of automated decision-making systems;
Amendment 296 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Underlines the importance of the use of data by digital platforms and that the accumulation of vast amounts of data by large technological enterprises creates imbalances in bargaining power and, thus, leads to the distortion of competition in the Single Market;
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
21a. Believes that where intermediaries are established in a third country, they should designate a legal representative, established in the Union, who can be held accountable for the products they offer;
Amendment 392 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Notes that while online platforms, such as online market places, have benefited both retailers and consumers by improving choice and lowering prices, at the same time, they have allowed sellers, in particular from third countries, to offer products which often do not comply with Union rules on product safety and do not sufficiently guarantee consumer rights; stresses, in this context, the need for a possibility to always identify manufacturers and sellers of products from third countries; underlines that if one of the services provided by a platform can be considered a marketplace ("hybrid platforms"), the rules should fully apply to that part of the business; and asks the online marketplaces to enhance their cooperation by exchanging information on the seller of these products with the market surveillance and the custom authorities;
Amendment 405 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Stresses that it is unacceptable that Union consumers are exposed to illegal and unsafe products, containing dangerous chemicals, as well as other safety hazards and, therefore. asks the Commission to increase the responsibility of online marketplaces selling non-food consumer products as outlined in the annex;
Amendment 440 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Notes that, today, some markets are characterised by large platforms with significant network effects which are able to act as de facto “online gatekeepers” of the digital economy and asks the Commission to analyse the consequences this has for consumers, SMEs and the Single Market;
Amendment 461 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28 a (new)
Paragraph 28 a (new)
28a. Believes that the ex-ante regulatory instrument should ensure fair trading conditions on all platforms, including possible additional requirements – for example, a list of obligations /prohibitions – for those that play a gatekeeper role;
Amendment 509 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – part I – paragraph 1 a (new)
Annex I – part I – paragraph 1 a (new)
The Digital Services Act should contribute to the removal of the existing unjustified obstacles to the digital single market, which many times arise from protectionist measures by Member States, as well as ensuring that no new barriers are created;
Amendment 543 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – part I – paragraph 6 – indent 2
Annex I – part I – paragraph 6 – indent 2
- an internal market legal instrument in the form of a Regulation, based on Article 114 TFEU, imposing ex-ante obligations on large platforms with a gatekeeper role in the digital ecosystem, complemented by an effective institutional enforcement mechanism.
Amendment 572 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – part III – paragraph 1 – indent 1
Annex I – part III – paragraph 1 – indent 1
- clarify to what extent “"new digital services”", such as social media networks, collaborative economy services, search engines, wifi hotspots, online advertising, comparison tools, cloud services, content delivery networks, and domain name services fall within the scope of the Digital Services Act;
Amendment 811 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – part VI – paragraph 2 – indent 3
Annex I – part VI – paragraph 2 – indent 3
- ensure that online marketplaces make it clear into which country the products are sold or services are being provided, regardless whether they are provided by that marketplace, a third party or a seller established inside or outside the Union;
Amendment 818 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – part VI – paragraph 2 – indent 4 a (new)
Annex I – part VI – paragraph 2 – indent 4 a (new)
- ensure that online marketplaces foresee an easy to find specific contact point for consumers and national authorities for the notice of unsafe goods on their website;
Amendment 862 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – part VII – paragraph 2 – indent 2
Annex I – part VII – paragraph 2 – indent 2
- empower regulatory authorities to issue orders prohibiting undertakings, which have been identified as “"systemic platforms”", from the following practices, inter alia: discrimination in intermediary services; making the use of data for making market entry by third parties more difficult; data envelopment used to expand dominant position in adjacent markets, incurring in self-preferencing of their own products and services and engaging in practices aimed at locking- in consumers; undertakings should be given the possibility to demonstrate that the behaviour in question is justified, yet they should bear the burden of proof for this;
Amendment 866 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – part VII – paragraph 2 – indent 2 a (new)
Annex I – part VII – paragraph 2 – indent 2 a (new)
- explore other ex-ante remedies that prevent the creation of new systemic platforms. In addition to reactive ex-ante mechanism, the Digital Services Act should envisage preventive mechanisms that prevent the creation of digital gatekeepers;
Amendment 892 #
Motion for a resolution
Annex I – part VIII – paragraph 1 a (new)
Annex I – part VIII – paragraph 1 a (new)
However, additional efforts with clear actions are necessary in order to address remaining obstacles in the digital single market and protectionist practices, such as: settling the costs of cross-border disputes, suppliers’ restrictions to selling cross-border, delivery-related matters, taxation rules, limited cross-border access to goods and services due to differences in intellectual property rights law, access to information on the relevant regulatory requirements, complex administrative procedures.