45 Amendments of Anna HEDH related to 2016/0152(COD)
Amendment 86 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) In order to realise the objective of ensuring good functioning of the internal market, as an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of inter alia goods and services is ensured, it is not sufficient to abolish, as between Member States, only State barriers. Such abolition can be undermined by private parties putting in place obstacles inconsistent with internal market freedoms. That occurs where traders operating in one Member State block or limit the access to their online interfaces, such as websites and apps, of custoonsumers from other Member States wishing to engage in cross-border commercial transactions (a practice known as geo-blocking). It also occurs through other actions by certain traders involving the application of different general conditions of access to their goods and services with respect to such custoonsumers from other Member States, both online and offline. Whereas there may sometimes be objective justifications for such differential treatment, in other cases traders deny consumers wishing to engage in cross- border commercial transactions access to goods or services, or apply different conditions in this regard, for purely commercialunjustified reasons.
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) In this manner certain traders artificially segment the internal market along internal frontiers and hamper the free movement of goods and services, thus restricting the rights of custoonsumers and preventing them from benefitting from a wider choice and optimal conditions. Such discriminatory practices are an important factor contributing to the relatively low level of cross-border commercial transactions within the Union, including in the sector of electronic commerce, which prevents the full growth potential of the internal market from being realised. Clarifying in which situations there can be no justification for differential treatment of this kind should bring clarity and legal certainty for all participants in cross-border transactions and should ensure that rules on non-discrimination can be effectively applied and enforced across the internal market.
Amendment 93 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) Pursuant to Article 20 of Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council17 , Member States are to ensure that service providers established in the Union do not treat recipients of services differently on the basis of their nationality or place of residence. However, that provision has not been fully effective in combatting discrimination and it has not sufficiently reduced legal uncertainty, particularly because of the possibility to justify the differences in treatment for which it allows and the corresponding difficulties in enforcing it in practice. Moreover, geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment can also arise as a consequence of actions by traders established in third countries, which fall outside the scope of that Directive. __________________ 17 Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market (OJ L 376, 27.12.2006, p. 36).
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) This Regulation aims at preventing unjustified discrimination based on customers' nationality, place of residence or place of establishment, including geo- blocking, in cross-border commercial transactions between traders and customers relating to the sales of goods and the provision of services within the Union. It seeks to address direct as well as indirect unjustified discrimination, thus also covering unjustified differences of treatment on the basis of other distinguishing criteria which lead to the same result as the application of criteria directly based on custoonsumers' nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment. Such other criteria can be applied, in particular, on the basis of information indicating the physical location of custoonsumers, such as the IP address used when accessing an online interface, the address submitted for the delivery of goods, the choice language made or the Member State where the custoonsumer's payment instrument has been issued.
Amendment 117 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Considering that some regulatory and administrative barriers for traders have been removed across the Union in certain services sectors as a result of the implementation of Directive 2006/123/EC, in terms of material scope, consistency should be ensured between this Regulation and Directive 2006/123/EC. As a consequence, the provisions of this Regulation should apply inter alia to non- audio-visual electronically supplied services, the main feature of which is the provision of access to and use of copyright protected works or other protected subject matter, subject however to the specific exclusion provided for in Article 4 and the subsequent evaluation of that exclusion as provided for in Article 9. Audio-visual services, including services the main feature of which is the provision of access to broadcasts of sports events and which are provided on the basis of exclusive territorial licenses, are excluded from the scope of this Regulation. Access to retail financial services, including payment services, should therefore also be excluded, notwithstanding the provisions of this Regulation regarding non-discrimination in payments.
Amendment 131 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) This Regulation should not affect acts of Union law concerningintroduce additional rules on judicial cooperation in civil matters, notably the provisions on the law applicable to contractual obligations and on jurisdiction set out in Regulations (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council24 and (EU) 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council25 , including the application of those acts and provisions in individual cases. In particular, the mere fact that a trader acts in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation should not be construed as implying that he directs his activities to the consumer's Member State for the purpose of such application. __________________ 24 Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I) (OJ L 177, 4.7.2008, p. 6). 25 Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (OJ L 351, 20.12.2012, p. 1).
Amendment 137 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10 a (new)
Recital 10 a (new)
(10a) The mere fact that a trader acts in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation should not be interpreted as a sign that he is directing his activities to the Member State of the consumer within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 and Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, in accordance with the well established case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Amendment 140 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10 b (new)
Recital 10 b (new)
(10b) Where applicable, rules on precontractual information, the right of withdrawal, its exercise and its effects, delivery, and the passing of risk should be governed by Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council1a. _______________ 1aDirective 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, p. 64).
Amendment 142 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) The discriminatory practices that this Regulation seeks to address typically take place through general terms, conditions and other information set and applied by or on behalf of the trader concerned, as a precondition for obtaining access to the goods or services in question, and that are made available to the public at large. Such general conditions of access include inter alia prices, payment conditions and delivery conditions. They can be made available to the public at large by or on behalf of the trader through various means, such as information published in advertisements, on websites or pre-contractual or contractual documentation. Such conditions apply in the absence of an individually negotiated agreement to the contrary entered into directly between the trader and the custoonsumer. Terms and conditions that are individually negotiated between the trader and the custoonsumers should not be considered general conditions of access for the purposes of this Regulation.
Amendment 145 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
Amendment 155 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) The effects for custoonsumers and on the internal market of unjustified discriminatory treatment in connection to commercial transactions relating to the sales of goods or the provision of services within the Union are the same, regardless of whether a trader is established in a Member State or in a third country. Therefore, and with a view to ensuring that competing traders are subject to the same requirements in this regard, the measures set out in this Regulation should apply equally to all traders operating within the Union.
Amendment 158 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) In order to increase the possibility for custoonsumers to access information related to the sales of goods and the provision of services on the internal market and to increase transparency, including with respect to prices, traders should not, through the use of technological measures or otherwise, prevent custoonsumers from having full and equal access to online interfaces on the basis of their nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment. Such technological measures can encompass, in particular, any technologies used to determine the physical location of the custoonsumer, including the tracking of that by means of IP address, coordinates obtained through a global navigation satellite system or data related to a payment transaction. However, that prohibition of discrimination with respect to access to online interfaces should not be understood as creating an obligation for the trader to engage in commercial transactions with custoonsumers.
Amendment 165 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Certain traders operate different versions of their online interfaces, targeting custoonsumers from different Member States. While this should remain possible, redirecting a custoonsumer from one version of the online interface to another version without his or her prior explicit consent should be prohibited. All versions of the online interface should remain easily accessible to the custoonsumer at all times.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) In certain cases, blocking, limiting of access or redirection without the custoonsumer's consent to an alternative version of an online interface for reasons related to the custoonsumer's nationality, or place or residence or place of establishment might be necessary in order to ensure compliance with a legal requirement in Union law or in the laws of Member States in accordance with Union law. Such laws can limit custoonsumers's access to certain goods or services, for instance by prohibiting the display of specific content in certain Member States. Traders should not be prevented from complying with such requirements and thus be able to block, limit the access or redirect certain custoonsumers or custoonsumers in certain territories to an online interface, insofar as that is necessary for that reason.
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) Finally, in the situation where the trader provides services and those services are received by the custoonsumer in the premises of or at a location chosen by the trader and different from the Member State of which the custoonsumer is a national or in which the custoonsumer has his or her place of residence or place of establishment, the application of different general conditions of access for reasons related to such criteria should not be justified either. Those situations concern, as the case may be, the provision of services such as hotel accommodation, sport events, car rental, and entry tickets to music festivals or leisure parks. In those situations, the trader does not have to register for VAT in another Member State nor arrange for cross-border delivery of goods.
Amendment 204 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) Traders falling under the special scheme provided in Chapter 1 of Title XII of Council Directive 2006/112/EC27 are not required to pay VAT. For those traders, when providing electronically supplied services, the prohibition of applying different general conditions of access for reasons related to the nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment of the custoonsumer would imply a requirement to register in order to account for VAT of other Member States and might entail additional costs, which would be a disproportionate burden, considering the size and characteristics of the traders concerned. Therefore, those traders should be exempted from that prohibition for such time as such a scheme is applicable. __________________ 27 Council Directive 2006/112/EC of 28 November 2006 on the common system of value added tax (OJ L 347, 11.12.2006, p. 1–118)
Amendment 211 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) In all those situations, traders may in some cases be prevented from selling goods or providing services to a certain custoidentified group of consumers or to custoonsumers in certain territories, for reasons related to the nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment of the custof the consumer, as a consequence of a specific prohibition or a requirement laid down in Union law or in the laws of Member States in accordance with Union law. Laws of Member States may also require, in accordance with Union law, traders to respect certain rules on the pricing of books. Traders should not be prevented from complying with such laws in as far as necessary.
Amendment 236 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) With a view to facilitating the effective enforcement of the rules laid down in this Regulation, the mechanisms to ensure cross-border cooperation among competent authorities provided for in Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council30 should also be available in relation to those rules. However, as Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 only applies with respect to laws that protect consumers' interests, those measures should be available only when the customer is a consumer. Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly. __________________ 30 Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 October 2004 on cooperation between national authorities responsible for the enforcement of consumer protection laws (the Regulation on consumer protection cooperation) (OJ L 364, 9.12.2004, p. 1).
Amendment 240 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) Traders, public authorities and other interested parties should have sufficient time to adapt to, and ensure compliance with, the provisions of this Regulation. In light of the particular characteristics of electronically supplied services, other than services the main feature of which is the provision of access to and use of copyright protected works or other protected subject matter, it is appropriate to apply the prohibition of Article 4(1)(b) only from a later date with respect to the provision of those services.
Amendment 241 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 33
Recital 33
(33) In order to achieve the objective of effectively addressing direct and indirect unjustified discrimination based on the nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment of custof consumers, it is appropriate to adopt a Regulation, which directly applies in all Member States. This is necessary in order to guarantee the uniform application of the non- discrimination rules across the Union and their entering into force at the same time. Only a Regulation ensures the degree of clarity, uniformity and legal certainty which is necessary in order to enable custoonsumers to fully benefit from those rules.
Amendment 245 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 34
Recital 34
(34) Since the objective of this Regulation, namely the prevention of direct and indirect unjustified discrimination based on nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment of custof consumers, including unjustified geo- blocking, in commercial transactions with traders within the Union, cannot be sufficiently achieved by Member States, due to the cross-border nature of the problem and the insufficient clarity of the existing legal framework, but can rather, by reason of its scale and potential effect on trade in the internal market be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
Amendment 249 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) This Regulation respects fundamental rights and observes the principle recognised in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In particular this Regulation seeks to ensure full respect of Articles 16, 17, 21 and 1738 thereof,
Amendment 256 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1
1. This Regulation seeks to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market by preventing unjustified discrimination based, directly or indirectly, on the nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment of custof consumers.
Amendment 263 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) where the trader sells goods, provides services, or seeks to do so, in a Member State other than the Member State in which the custoonsumer has the place of residence or the place of establishment;
Amendment 268 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point b
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point b
(b) where the trader sells goods, provides services, or seeks to do so, in the samea Member State, as the one in which the customer has the place of residence or place of establishment, but the custond the consumer is a national of another Member State;
Amendment 274 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) where the trader sells goods or provides services, or seeks to do so, in a Member State in which the custoonsumer is temporarily located without residing in that Member State or having the place of establishment in that Member State.
Amendment 279 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. This Regulation does not apply to purely internal situations which have no extraneous elements.
Amendment 283 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the applicable rules on copyright and related rights, in particular Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council1a. _______________ 1aDirective 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society (OJ L 167, 22.6.2001, p. 10).
Amendment 293 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 5
Article 1 – paragraph 5
5. This Regulation shall not affect acts ofbe without prejudice to the applicable Union law concerning judicial cooperation in civil matters. CThe mere compliance with this Regulation shall not be construed as implying that a trader directs his or her activities to the Member State where the consumer has the habitual residence or domicile within the meaning of point (b) of Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 593/2008 and point (c) of Article 17(1) of Regulation (EU) 1215/2012. In particular, where a trader, acting in accordance with Articles 3, 4 and 5, does not block or restrict consumer access to his on-line interface, does not redirect him or her to a different version of his on-line interface to which the consumer has sought access originally, irrespective of his or her nationality or place of residence, does not apply different general conditions of access in situations provided for by this Regulation, that trader cannot be regarded, solely on these grounds, as directing its activities to the Member State in which the consumer has his or her habitual residence or domicile.
Amendment 300 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point c
Amendment 304 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) 'general conditions of access' means all terms, conditions and other information, including net sale prices, regulating the access of custoonsumers to goods or services offered for sale by a trader, which are set, applied and made available to the public at large by or on behalf of the trader and which apply in the absence of an individually negotiated agreement between the trader and the custoonsumer;
Amendment 309 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point f
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point f
(f) 'online interface' means any software, including all or part of a website and applications, operated by or on behalf of a trader, which serves to give custoonsumers access to the trader's goods or services with a view to engaging in a commercial transaction with respect to those goods or services;
Amendment 316 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1
Article 3 – paragraph 1
1. The traders shall not, through the use of technological measures or otherwise, block or limit custoonsumers' access to their online interface for reasons related to the nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment of the custoonsumer.
Amendment 319 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
The traders shall not, for reasons related to the nationality, place of residence or place of establishment of the customer, redirect custo redirect the consumers to a version of theirits online interface that is different from the online interface which the custoonsumer originally sought to access, by virtue of its layout, use of language or other characteristics that make it specific to custoonsumers with a particular nationality, or place of residence or place establishment, unless the custoonsumer gives his or her explicit consent prior to such redirection.
Amendment 327 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
In the event of such redirection with the custoonsumer's explicit prior consent, the original version of the online interface the consumer originally sought to access shall remain easily accessible for that custoonsumer.
Amendment 332 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 3
Article 3 – paragraph 3
3. The prohibitions set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply where the blocking, limitation of access or redirection with respect to certain custospecific group of consumers or to custoonsumers in certain territories is necessary in order to ensure compliance with a legal requirement in Union law or in the laws of Member States in accordance with Union law, to which the trader's activities apply.
Amendment 347 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The traders shall not apply different general conditions of access to theirits goods or services, for reasons related to the nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment of the custof the consumer, in the following situations:
Amendment 356 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) where the trader sells goods and those goods are not delivered cross-border to the Member State of the custoonsumer by the trader or on his or her behalf;
Amendment 359 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) where the trader provides electronically supplied services, other than services the main feature of which is the provision of access to andor use of copyright protected works or other protected subject matter, or sells copyright protected works or protected subject matter in an intangible form;
Amendment 367 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) where the trader provides services, other than those covered by point (b), and those services are supplied to the custoonsumer in the premises of the trader or in a physical location where the trader operates, in a Member State other than that of which the custoonsumer is a national or in which the custoonsumer has the place of residencehis or ther place of restablishmentidence.
Amendment 384 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The traders shall not, for reasons related to the nationality, or place of residence or place of establishment of the custoonsumer, the location of the payment account, the place of establishment of the payment service provider or the place of issue of the payment instrument within the Union, apply different conditions of payment for any sales of goods or provision of serviceswhen using credit transfers, direct debits or a card-based payment instrument of a specific payment brand and category, where:
Amendment 391 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point a
Amendment 392 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) the payee can requestidentity of the payer or the validity of the use of the payment instrument is verifiable by strong custoonsumer authentication by the payer pursuant to the Directive (EU) 2015/2366; and
Amendment 399 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 5 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) the payments are in a currency that the payeetrader accepts.
Amendment 402 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2
Article 5 – paragraph 2
2. The prohibition set out in paragraph 1 shall not preclude the traders's possibility to request charges for the use of a card- based payment instrument for which interchanges fees are not regulated under Chapter II of Regulation (EU) 2015/751 and for those payment services to which Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 does not apply. Those charges shall not exceed the direct costs borne by the trader for the use of the payment instrument.