7 Amendments of Mary HONEYBALL related to 2018/0112(COD)
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) In order to effectively protect business users where needed, this Regulation should apply where the terms and conditions of a contractual relationship, regardless of whetheir name or form, are not individually negotiated by the parties to them. Whether or not terms and conthe provider of an online intermediations wer service iandividually negotiated should be determined on the basis of an overall assessment, whereby the fact that certain provisions thereof may have been individually negotiated is, in itself, not decisive a business user are parties to an agreement that they individually negotiated.
Amendment 89 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) Where a provider of online intermediation services itself offers certain goods or services to consumers through its own online intermediation services, or does so through a business user which it controls, that provider may compete directly with other business users of its online intermediation services which are not controlled by the provider. Such a provider will have an economic incentive and the ability to use its control over the online intermediation service to provide technical or economic advantages to its own offerings, or those offered through a business user which it controls, that it denies to competing business users. When a provider of online intermediation services exercises this ability, its conduct deprives such competing business users of equality of opportunity and can lead to consumer harm by reducing their choices, increasing their costs, and withholding critical information from them. In such situations, in particular, it is important that the provider of online intermediation services acts in a transparent manner and provides a description of any differentiated treatment, whether through legal, commercial or technical means, that it might give in respect of goods or services it offers itself compared to those offered by business users. To ensure proportionality, this obligation should apply at the level of the overall online intermediation services, rather than at the level of individual goods or services offered through those services.
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19 a (new)
Recital 19 a (new)
(19a) For purposes of this Regulation, a provider’s service competes with those of its other business users if it is regarded as interchangeable or substitutable by consumers of the online intermediation service, including by reason of the characteristics, prices, or intended uses of the services.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19 b (new)
Recital 19 b (new)
(19b) In certain cases, the asymmetry in bargaining power between online intermediation services and other business users results in a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations under the applicable contract, causing harm to the business user. In such cases, the provider of online intermediation service must apply fair treatment to the business user, in such a way that they do not materially impair other business users’ ability and freedom to do business. Given the high likelihood of harm to consumers inherent in situations where a provider of online intermediation services competes with other business users, including by reducing the consumers’ choices, increasing their costs, and withholding critical information from them, the obligation to provide fair treatment shall include ensuring that consumers who access services through the online intermediation service have the right and ability to select and use the services of their choice, without facing any undue burdens, such as where the provider ignores or overrides consumers’ choices of default settings. A provider of online intermediation services also fails to provide fair treatment where it does not afford competing business users with all information necessary for them to achieve the same level and quality of interoperability with the online intermediation service, and any ancillary services, as are available to the provider itself, and where it implements practices that directly or indirectly provide technical or economic advantages to its own offerings that it denies to competing business users. Fair treatment also requires the provider to refrain from interfering in the commercial relationship between competing business users and consumers of their services, including by blocking or otherwise restricting the flow of information and communication between them, including advertising and marketing.
Amendment 217 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 6 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) any direct or indirect remuneration charged for the use of the online intermediation services concerned or any ancillary services, and any technical or economic benefit it does not extend to all business users;
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. The providers in paragraph 1 shall apply fair treatment in such a way that they do not materially impair other business users’ ability and freedom to do business, thereby causing appreciable harm to the business user. In applying fair treatment, the provider of online intermediation services shall refrain from, for instance: (a) preventing or imposing undue burdens on consumers’ choices of services on the online intermediation service; (b) interfering in the commercial relationship between competing business users and consumers of their services, such as by blocking or otherwise restricting the flow of information and communication between them, including advertising and marketing. (c) directly or indirectly providing any technical or economic advantage to its own services, or to services that it controls, that it denies to competing business users.
Amendment 239 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 f (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 2 f (new)