16 Amendments of Marlene MIZZI related to 2016/2244(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas there is no common European definition of franchising, but it normally involves and franchising agreements differ from one business to another, while franchising normally includes specific basic common elements, namely a partnership between natural or legal persons that are legally and financially independent of each other, whereby one party (the franchisor) grants to the other party (the franchisee) the right to operate his franchising formula to sell goods and/or services, and shares know- how, and the provision of commercial and technical assistance on the part of franchisor to the franchisee for the duration of the agreement; the intention of both the franchisor and the franchisee being to generate business revenue;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas franchising has the full potential of being a business model that can help in completing the single market in the retail sector as it can be a convenient means to establish business through a shared investment of franchisor and franchisee, but is currently under- performing in the EU, representing only 1.89 % of GDP, as opposed to 5.95 % in the USA and 10.83 % in Australia, 83.5 % of franchising’s turnover being concentrated in only seven Member States;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas there are differences between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ franchising, depending on the conditions of the franchising agreement; and, moreover, alternative business models such as ‘groups of independent retailers’ have special characteristics and should only be affected by rules governing franchising, insofar as they meet the definition of franchising;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. Whereas the franchisor has to prove serious breach of contract or ethics by the franchisee in order to unilaterally decide not to renew the contract or to award the franchise to another person or company in the same territory, in particular if the franchisee has been successfully operating the franchise for the duration of the agreement, during which time considerable investment in growing the brand and enhancing its goodwill has taken place;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G a (new)
Recital G a (new)
G a. Whereas, the Commission has defined unfair trading practices as "practices that deviate grossly from good commercial conduct, are contrary to good faith and fair dealing and are unilaterally imposed by one trading partner on another"1a; _________________ 1a"Tackling unfair trading practices in the business-to-business food supply chain", COM(2014)472.
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G b (new)
Recital G b (new)
G b. Whereas the "fear factor" comes into play in commercial relationships, with the weaker party being unable to make effective use of their rights and unwilling to lodge a complaint about unfair trading practices imposed by the stronger party, for fear of compromising their commercial relationships;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that for the completion of the single market in the retail sector, franchising can play an important role, provided that effective protection of both franchisors and franchisees against unfair trading practices is offered throughout the EU; however, this is not currently the case, as different measures exist between Member States, leading to a high degree of divergence and diversification between Member States in terms of the level, nature and form of legal protection;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Envisages that in view of the strong-border component in franchising, a uniform approach to correct unfair trading practices at EU level is advisable;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. States that franchisors have organised themselves both at national and European level for the representation of their interests, whereas often due to a lack of resources, franchisees often lack such representative organisations and adefending their collective interests, continuing to operate mostly on an individual basis and are therefore under- represented;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission and Member States to promote the creation of associations representing franchisees, and to make sure that their voices are heard, whenever policies or legislation are prepared that may affect them, in order to ensure more equal representation of the parties;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Encourages the setting-up of national and European franchising associations recognized as legally- acknowledged sources of best practice in franchising, ensuring a balance of membership between franchisors and franchisees;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Expresses its concern that, given the weaker status of franchisees, unfair trading practices can also consist in franchisors unilaterally deciding not to renew a long-standing franchise agreement, causing serious financial damage to the investment of the franchisee in the franchise property, fittings, advertising and goodwill, thereby jeopardizing employment, especially if the intention and reason for non-renewal is for the franchisor to award the franchise to another person or company in the same territory, even though the franchisee has consistently and fully abided by the agreement;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Points, in particular, to the need for specific principles to ensure the balanced contractual rights and obligations of the parties, such as clear, correct and comprehensive pre-contractual information, including information on the franchise formula’s performance, both general and targeted towards the franchisee’s envisaged location, and clear limits concerning the confidentiality requirements, to be available in writing at least 15 working days prior to the signing of the agreement, and the introduction of a five-day cooling- off period after execution of the agreement; the obligation for the franchisor to ensure that the duration of the contract allows the franchisee to cover his investment; continued commercial and technical assistance from the franchisor to the franchisee for the duration of the agreement; and fair indemnities at the end of the contract;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Notes with concern that parallel importation of franchised products seriously undermines and jeopardizes territorial exclusivity agreements and pollute and contradict the franchising model to the detriment of the franchisees, and holds the franchisors responsible if such importation into the territory is within their capability to control and prevent;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Notes with concern the disputes arising about internet sales, as they are vital in the digital market, whereas the power of the franchisor and the franchisee is often very unbalanced, and traditional franchise agreements do not take into account the effect internet sales may have on exclusivity clauses, thus making it possible that in the area for which the franchisee has the right of exclusivity, customers may buy their products from the franchisor, even if they pick up the goods in the franchisee’s shop; recalls that efforts should be made to prevent internet sellers from developing unfair competitive advantages vis-a-vis franchisees;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Expresses its concerns about the use of consumer data collected via the franchisee; asks the Commission to take into consideration the digital components of the business model in its further actions;