Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1351534
9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 17 MARCH 2021 These articles are part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. These articles reflect only the authors' view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. content. They encouraged the Commission to find solutions to prevent any dis- crimination on EU level, as the volun- tary lifting of barriers is currently not working. Commission queried Anna Cavazzini, on behalf of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, said that significant delays in implementing the Geo-blocking Regulation were observed in most Member States. "What concrete steps will the Com- mission take to ensure that enforce- ment is not only available, but that it is also consistent and effective across all Member States?" she asked. "How is the Commission planning to further enhance the oversight and en- forcement activities of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network?" Cavazzini said that although not di- rectly addressed by the Regulation, delivery limitations in cross-border shopping still affect more than 50 % of shopping attempts, frustrating consumer expectations. She called on the Commission to un- dertake to facilitate cross-border en- gagement of traders and to strength- en the single market. The evaluation report identifies an increasing demand for cross-border access to audiovisual services, the availability of which is often geo- blocked. To address this issue, the Commis- sion has announced it will engage in a stakeholder dialogue with a view to fostering circulation of quality con- tent across the EU. "What are the concrete objectives and improvements the Commission expects the industry to commit to?" she asked. "Will the Commission propose an amendment of this Regulation if the objectives are not met?" IF you shop online abroad, i.e. cross-bor- der, from websites based outside Ireland, in the European Union, chances are you have been geo-blocked at some point. In late 2018, Regulation (EU) 2018/302 (Geo-blocking Regulation) became appli- cable throughout the European Union in an effort to prevent, or at least reduce, instanc- es where online traders unjustly discrimi- nate against consumers based on nationality or place of residence and increase consum- ers' access to goods and services within the internal market. What is geo-blocking? Geo-blocking happens when online sell- ers/providers restrict online cross-border sales based on nationality, residence or place of establishment. These practices can include: • Preventing users wishing to engage in cross-border transactions from accessing and purchasing goods, ser- vices, or digital content offered on a trader's website or app; • Limiting access to online interfaces; • Re-routing users to country-specific websites (possibly with different pric- es); or • Refusing delivery or payment Access to website and re-routing An EU-based trader can no longer block or limit a customer's access to its online interface (such as a website or app) based on their location and they cannot redirect the customer to a different online inter- face, without their express consent. This increases price transparency by allowing consumers to access different national web- sites. This also applies to non-audio-visual electronically supplied services such as e-books, music, games and software. How- ever, geo-blocking is permitted where it is necessary to comply with EU or Member State law, but where this is the case, a clear and specific explanation must be provided. Access to goods and services There are now three specific situations where there can be no justified reason why a trader cannot provide customers with the same access to goods and services as local customers. These situations are: When a customer buys a good, such as electronics, clothes, sportswear or a book, which the trader does not deliver cross-bor- der to the customer's Member State. Such customers from other Member State are en- titled to delivery in the Member State of the trader in the same way as local customers. For example, an Irish consumer wishes to buy a camera and finds the best deal on a German website. The customer will be en- titled to order the good and collect it at the trader's premises or organise delivery him- self to his home. When a customer wants to buy an elec- tronically supplied service, such as cloud services, data warehousing or website host- ing, from a trader established in another Member State. Such customers are entitled to do so in the same way as local customers are. For example, an Irish consumer wishes to buy hosting services for her website from a Spanish company. She will have access to the service, can register and buy this service without having to pay additional fees com- pared to a Spanish customer. When a customer buys a service (such as concert tickets, rental accommodation or car hire) which is supplied in the premises of the trader or in a physical location where the trader operates, where those premis- es or that location are in another Member State than in that of the customer, they are entitled to the same treatment as local cus- tomers. For example, An Irish family visits a French theme park and wishes to take ad- vantage of a family discount on the price of the entry tickets. The discounted price should be available for the Irish family, just as it is for French families. Discrimination for reasons related to payment While traders remain free to accept what- ever payment method they wish, the Regu- lation prohibits discrimination where: • Payments are made electronically by bank transfer, direct debit or card- based payment within the same brand and category (i.e. debit or credit card of a given card company); • Authentication requirements are ful- filled; and • The payments are in a currency that the trader accepts. What is Geo-blocking? remaining restrictions in Geo-blocking create artificial barriers