20 Amendments of Marlene MIZZI related to 2018/2008(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 23 a (new)
Citation 23 a (new)
– having regard to the Commission communication of 11 April 2018 on A New Deal for Consumers (COM(2018) 183),
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 23 b (new)
Citation 23 b (new)
– having regard to the proposal for Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on better enforcement and modernization of EU consumer protection rules (COM(2018) 185/3),
Amendment 11 #
Ca. whereas President Juncker stressed in his 2017 State of the Union Address that it is not acceptable that in some parts of Europe, people are sold food of lower quality than in other countries, despite the packaging and branding being identical;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas the brand often plays the most important role in deciding on the value of the product;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D b (new)
Recital D b (new)
Db. whereas a strengthened and more efficient enforcement cooperation framework would also boost consumer trust and reduce consumer harm;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas in its 2018 Work Programme, the Commission announced plans to propose ‘A New Deal for Consumers’, a targeted revision of the EU consumer directives following on from the Fitness Check of EU consumer and marketing laws, the Commission suggested to update the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive in order to make explicit that national authorities can assess and address misleading commercial practices involving the marketing of products as being identical in several EU countries, if their composition or characteristics are significantly different;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas products differentiation and innovation should not be restricted as such but consumers should not be misled;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Underlines that results of various tests conducted in several Member States have proven that there are differences between products which are advertised and distributed in the single market under the same brand and with the same packaging; Notes that according to a survey10a conducted for a national competent authority, a vast majority of consumers are bothered about such differences; _________________ 10a Survey of the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority conducted in 2016. http://www.szpi.gov.cz/clanek/tz- 2016-vyzkum-cesky-spotrebitel-zada- stejne-kvalitni-potraviny-jako- evropsky.aspx
Amendment 43 #
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 and updating the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1
Subheading 1
Commission Notice and application of EU consumer protection law to issues of dual quality of products
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Takes note of the Commission Notice on the application of EU food and consumer laws to dual quality products; points out that this notice is intended to help national authorities to determine whether a company is breaking EU food and consumer laws when selling products of dual quality in different countries; points out that the Notice’s step-by-step approach for the identification by national authorities of whether producers are in breach of EU law currently seems inapplicable, in particular when national enforcers have to apply a case-by-case assessment of the likely impact of the practice on the average consumer's economic behaviour;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. EDraws attention to the fact that according to Guidance on the application of UCPD from 2016: “goods of the same brand and having the same or similar packaging may differ as to their composition depending on the place of manufacture and the destination market, i.e. they may vary from one Member State to another. Under the UCPD, commercial practices marketing products with a different composition are not unfair per se”; emphasises the importance of the guidance documents issued by the Commission in facilitating proper and coherent application of the UCPD; calls, therefore, on the Commission to clarify the relationship between the Notice and, the guidance; and the paper drafted by the HLF Internal Market Subgroup;
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes that the Commission invites competent authorities to perform market tests that involve product comparisons across different regions and countries; highlights, however, that according to the Commission, such tests should be carried out with a common testing approach which has not been adopted yet; Stresses the need to stick to the timetable so that the results of the testing carried out under a common testing approach are made available and analysed by end of this year;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Recalls that the European Parliament has repeatedly called on the Commission to determine whether a dual quality has negative repercussions for local and regional production, in particular SMEs; regrets that no data have been presented by the Commission so far;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Underlines that counterfeiting of branded products exposes consumers to health and safety risks, undermines consumer confidence in the brands and leads to loss of revenue for producers; Notes that range of counterfeit products recovered in the EU remains broad and includes nearly all types of goods;
Amendment 123 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises the value of 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 and quality and its changes;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Emphasises the value of 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 and clarity with regard to product composition;.
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls for the increased support of national consumer organizations, 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 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Believes that the experiences of competent authorities thus far suggest that they have been unable individually to tackle effectively any specific cases of dual quality at national level, also due to absence of an explicit legal provision on EU level;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22 a (new)
Paragraph 22 a (new)
22a. Emphasises that the outcome of the legislative process should be a clear definition of what can be considered as dual quality and how each case should be assessed and addressed by competent authorities;