37 Amendments of Birgit COLLIN-LANGEN related to 2018/2008(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 a (new)
Citation 22 a (new)
– having regard to the various surveys, studies and tests carried out in the last years by the Food Inspection Authorities in many Member States in Central and Eastern Europe,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas all EU citizens deserve equal treatment in regard to food and non-food products sold on the Single Market;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas the assessment of whether a commercial practice is unfair under the UCPD must be performed on a case-by- case basis by Member States, except in the case of the practices listed in Annex I to the UCPD;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Welcomes, therefore, the recent initiatives announced by the Commission to address this issue, in particular its commitment to delivering a common testing methodology and allocating a budget for its preparation and enforcement and for collection of further evidence; calls for the Commission to coordinate national competent authorities in applying the common testing methodology developed by the JRC in order to ensure a unified interpretation of the methodology by the Member States. Calls on the Commission to come up with a clear mechanisms on how to deal with the cases of the dual quality and propose a suitable structure and process on how Member States together with businesses should tackle the potential dual quality of products;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the adoption by Parliament of a pilot project for 2018 that will involve a series of market investigations into several categories of consumer products to assess different aspects of dual quality; expects the project to be launched, conducted and published in time, as initially planned;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Encourages the Parliament, Commission and Member States to make use of all available tools, including pilot and national projects to further asses different aspects of dual quality of foods;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Points out that the safety and quality of food, as well as protection of consumers from being misled, are matters of the highest priority;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Notes that, despite numerous requests, the testing and analysis methods used by national authorities to study dual quality of products, particularly foodstuffs, have so far not been communicated to the national authorities of other Member States;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Stresses that the Commission Notice of 29 September 2017 entitled ‘The application of EU food and consumer protection law to issues of Dual Quality of products – The specific case of food (2017/C 237/01)’ refers to the relevant EU legal provisions and the provisions of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 2006/2004) concerning cooperation between authorities and its direction and use;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Agrees with the Commission that in the single market, where consumers have a general understanding of the principles of free circulation and equal access to goods, consumers do not, a priori, expect branded products sold in different countries to differ from each other; also agrees with the Commission that the food and drink operators do not necessarily have to offer identical products across the different geographical areas;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Considers that the Notice is perceived as primarily intended for foodstuffs; believes that provisions on the application of consumer protection law should be applied to all food and non- food products in general;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that there may be different requirements for the control methods of the national competent authorities; considers that the aim of the work to develop a and they should therefore use the methodology ldeveloped by the Commission’´s Joint Research Centere should be clearly stated so as to prevent conflicting interpretations;
Amendment 90 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Welcomes the Commission’s decision to instruct the Joint Research Centre to devise a common test method and carry out uniform tests throughout the EU in accordance with agreed standards, in order to assess how justified the accusations are;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Calls, in connection with the test procedures to be developed by the Commission's Joint Research Centre, for manufacturers to be given the opportunity to deliver opinions before the results are published;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Reminds the European Commission of its commitment to better monitoring and enhancing the correct application of EU legislation;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Is concerned about restrictions placed on traders when it comes to purchasing goods that may have a negative effect onin consequence limit consumer choice; urges the Commission to identify factors that contribute to a fragmentation of the single market in goods, in particular territorial supply constraints and their implications;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Invites the European Commission, where appropriate, to make use of competition law to tackle contractual and non-contractual practices that illegitimately restrict consumers’ ability to benefit fully from the Single Market;
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Observes that, in the case of consumer products such as food, one and the same brand may be subject to altered recipes and flavour profiles on account of the desiderata imposed by local markets within the European Union; relevant local conditions range, inter alia, from taking account of national legislation (e.g. taxes, national customs with regard to the composition of a food) to disparate local consumer tastes (e.g. with reference to spiciness) regarding the use of local ingredients or production facilities, compliance with reformulation objectives or local price levels; such differentiations do not result in different qualities and are perfectly legitimate, provided that they are not misleading and accord with product information and statements made in advertising;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises the value of broad and timely public debate that leads to increased consumer awareness about products and their characteristics; notes that some manufacturers and owners of private labels have already announced changes to recipes; highlights the role of industry in improving transparency with regard to product composition;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17a. Calls for the increased support of national consumer organisations, so they can build capacity, develop their testing activities and contribute, alongside with competent authorities, to tracking and exposing situations of unfair product differentiation;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Invites consumer organisations to play an more active role in the public debate and in informing consumers and serve as a first point of contact for the consumers to ensure their rights on the Single Market; calls on the Member States to uphold the functioning of the consumer organizations by strengthening their role to fulfil their tasks in consumer protection;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Believes that in the light of previous experiences of competent authorities thus far suggest that they have beenwere unable individually to tackle effectively any specific cases of dual quality at national level; calls on Member States to better enforce the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive in order to better ensure that consumers are informed about food products when making a purchasing decision and are not misled by unfair marketing practices; stresses that the Member States shall ensure that the competent national authorities possess adequate technical, financial and human capacities in order to ensure effective enforcement;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19a. Stresses that any action taken against business operators by enforcement authorities must be proportionate and non-discriminatory;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Draws attention to the fact that the issue of alleged dual quality is directly related to the essence of the functioning of the single market and consumer trust and therefore requires a solution at Union level, preferably via directly enforceable measures; is convinced that given the possibility of action at national level, Union-level action would safeguard the integrity of the single market;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Welcomes the European Commission’s efforts to assist national enforcement authorities in identifying unfair commercial practices in the marketing of food products on the basis of the EU harmonised methodology being developed by the Joint Research Center of the European Commission as this issue is directly related to the essence of the functioning of the Single Market and consumer trust;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Recalls that Annex I to the UCPD was drawn up to enable the identification of certain unfair practices and the provision of a more immediate response; agrees with the Commission that listing a pracreferring to the Article in Annex I6 of the UCPD when dealing with cases of dual quality leads to greater legal certainty;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Welcomes the Commission´s New Deal for Consumers presented by the European Commission on 11 April 2018 which will tackle dual quality of consumer products by updating the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive in order to make explicit that national authorities can assess and address misleading commercial practices involving the marketing products as being identical in several EU countries, if their composition or characteristics are significantly different;
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Considers that the competent national authorities ought to monitor compliance with the applicable law on food effectively;
Amendment 192 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Stresses that EU law on fair business practices (Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices (UCPD) ) and the numerous harmonised provisions on food labelling provide an appropriate legal basis for combating practices designed to mislead consumers (Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers);
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 b (new)
Paragraph 24 b (new)
24b. Rejects attempts to standardise the taste and recipes of food throughout the EU or to prescribe to manufacturers the exact composition of the various products, as a result of which they can no longer respond to the wishes of consumers on their local markets;
Amendment 194 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 c (new)
Paragraph 24 c (new)
24c. Calls on the Commission to provide a legally secure definition of the concept of an ‘EU reference product';
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 e (new)
Paragraph 24 e (new)
24e. Is opposed to the creation of an agency or a specialised unit to monitor the consistency, the composition and the proportional use of ingredients in identical branded products and packaged foodstuffs, since the existing legal and monitoring structures are sufficient;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 f (new)
Paragraph 24 f (new)
24f. Calls for the work to develop a methodology, led by the Commission's Joint Research Centre, to result in clear formulations, in order to avoid contradictory interpretations by the competent national authorities;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 g (new)
Paragraph 24 g (new)
24g. Calls on the Commission, after EU-wide tests have been conducted in accordance with the standards developed by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre, to publish the results in a report and if necessary to draw conclusions;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 h (new)
Paragraph 24 h (new)
24h. Points out that the results of EU- wide testing in accordance with the common testing methodology developed by the Commission's Joint Research Centre will enable Member States to provide their people with objective and factual information;