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23 Amendments of Nicola DANTI related to 2018/0112(COD)

Amendment 81 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
(5) Online intermediation services and online search engines, as well as the commercial transactions facilitated by those services, have an intrinsic cross- border potential and are of particular importance for the proper functioning of the Union’s internal market in today’s economy. The potentially unfair and harmful trading practices of certain providers of those services in respect of business users and corporate website users hamper the full realisation of that potential and negatively affect the proper functioning of the internal market. In addition, the full realisation of that potential is hampered, and the proper functioning of the internal market is negatively affected, by diverging laws of certain Member States which, with a varying degree of effectiveness, regulate those services, while other Member States are considering adopting such laws.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
(8) A wide variety of business-to- consumer commercial relations are intermediated online by providers operating multi-sided services that are essentially based on the same ecosystem- building business model. In order to capture the relevant services, online intermediation services should be defined in a precise and technologically-neutral manner. In particular, the services should consist of information society services, which are characterised by the fact that they aim to facilitate the initiating of direct transactions between business users and consumers, irrespective of whether and where the transactions are ultimately concluded either online, on the online portal of the provider of the online intermediation services in question or that of the business user, or offline. Such intermediation services should include device operating systems, as applications and services through such operating systems can be an important channel to market for businesses. In addition, the services should be provided on the basis of contractual relationships both between the providers and business users and between the providers and thewhich offer goods and services to consumers. Such a contractual relationship should be deemed to exist where both parties concerned express their intention to be bound in an unequivocal and verifiable manner, without an express written agreement necessarily being required.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 101 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8
(8) A wide variety of business-to- consumer commercial relations are intermediated online by providers operating multi-sided services that are essentially based on the same ecosystem- building business model. In order to capture the relevant services, online intermediation services should be defined in a precise and technologically-neutral manner. In particular, the services should consist of information society services, which are characterised by the fact that they aim to facilitate the initiating of direct transactions between business users and consumers, irrespective of whether the transactions are ultimately concluded either online, on the online portal of the provider of the online intermediation services in question or that of the business user, or offline, meaning that there is no requirement for any contractual relationship between the business users and consumers as a precondition for the inclusion of an online intermediation service within the scope of this Regulation. In addition, the services should be provided on the basis of contractual relationships both between the providers and business users and between the providers and the consumers. Such a contractual relationship should be deemed to exist where both parties concerned express their intention to be bound in an unequivocal and verifiable manner, without an express written agreement necessarily being required. Such a contractual relationship between the providers of online intermediation services and consumers should also be deemed to exist in cases where the services are supplied to the consumer against the provision of personal data or other data by the consumer.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 115 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9 a (new)
(9a) In certain cases, distinguishing between business users and non-business users of online intermediation services may be complicated. Such a distinction is important, since business users who offer goods or services to consumers should also be under stricter obligations towards consumers. In line with the Commission Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993, Directive 98/6/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards better enforcement and modernisation of EU consumer protection rules, it should not be in the discretion of the provider of an online intermediation service to distinguish whether a user is a business user or a non-business user. Rather, the users of online intermediation services should be required to indicate whether they are business users or not, and if so, fulfil their stricter obligations towards consumers. Online intermediation services shall display the information.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
(16) A provider of online intermediation services can have legitimate reasons to decide to suspend, delist or terminate the provision of its services, in whole or in part, to a given business user, including by delisting individual goods or services of a given business user or effectively removing search results. However, given that such decisions can significantly affect the interests of the business user concerned, they should be properly informed of the reasons thereofIt can also be under a legal obligation to remove certain content, or to suspend or terminate the provision of its services in whole or in part. However, given that such decisions can significantly affect the interests of the business user concerned, they should be properly informed in advance of the termination or suspension, except for in cases where a provider of online intermediation services is under a legal obligation to terminate its services immediately. There could also be cases in which the provider of the online intermediation service is not under a legal obligation to terminate its services, for example due to illegal or unsafe products or services being marketed, but where the provider has reasonable doubts regarding the safety of a product or service, counterfeiting, fraud, or suitability of the product or service to minors. In such cases, it should be possible for the provider of the online intermediation service to act immediately to protect consumers. However, in these exceptional cases where services could be terminated immediately, the business user should in any case be provided with a statement of reasons for the termination of the service. The statement of reasons should allow business users to ascertain whether there is scope to challenge the decision, thereby improving the possibilities for business users to seek effective redress where necessary. In addition, requiring a statement of reasons should help to prevent or remedy any unintended removal of online content provided by business users which the provider incorrectly considers to be illegal content, in line with Commission Recommendation (EU) No 2018/33422. The statement of reasons should identify the objective ground or grounds for the decision, based on the grounds that the provider had set out in advance in its terms and conditions, and refer in a proportionate manner to the relevant specific circumstances that led to that decision, except in cases where a provider of online intermediation services is under a legal obligation not to disclose them. _________________ 22 Commission Recommendation (EU) No 2018/334 of 1 March 2018 on measures to effectively tackle illegal content online (OJ L 63, 6.3.2018, p. 50).
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18 a (new)
(18a) Providers of online search engines often allow the ranking of search results to be influenced against forms of remuneration paid by corporate website users. Clear details regarding such practice should be made publicly available for corporate website users and consumers to understand the effects of remuneration on ranking. Nevertheless, search results whose placement in the ranking has been influenced by forms of payment should be clearly flagged, making them easily distinguishable from other search results where remuneration was not paid.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 191 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20 a (new)
(20a) Business users should be able to transfer their online reputation, such as ratings and reviews accumulated with one provider of online intermediation services, to alternative providers of similar services with a comparable system of online reputation. The portability of business users’ reputation will enable for greater competition between providers, giving access to a wider choice to both business users and consumers alike.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 192 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
(21) Providers of online intermediation services might in certain casesoften restrict in the terms and conditions the ability of business users to offer goods or services to consumers under more favourable conditions through other means than through those online intermediation services. In those cases, the providers concerned should set out the grounds for doing so, in particular with reference to the main economic, commercial or legal considerations for the restrictions. This transparency obligation should however not be understood as affecting the assessment of the legality of such restrictions under oCertain Member States already prohibit such practices, as they unfairly limit the freedom of business users to set the conditions of sale of their own products and services, and may also harm consumers by restricting their acts of Union law or the law of Member States in accordance with Union law, including in the areas of competitchoice. Thus, this Regulation should prohibit such clauses in the European Union, and unfair commercial practices, and the application of such lawhence harmonise the legal framework of Member States.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 248 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point a
(a) they constitute information society services within the meaning of Article 1(1)(b) of Directive (EU) No 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council27or they constitute device operating systems; _________________ 27 Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on Information Society services (OJ L 241, 17.9.2015, p. 1).
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 255 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point c
(c) they are provided to business users on the basis of contractual relationships between, on the one hand, the provider of those services and, on the other hand, both those business users and the consumers to which those business users which offer goods or services to consumers;
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 351 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. The online intermediation service provider has to ensure that business users retain full control over their brands. The brand attribution to the business user should be recognizable to the consumer throughout all the stages of the intermediation process.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 362 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Paragraph 1 shall also not apply where the provider of online intermediation services acts to protect consumers on the basis of reasonable doubt regarding the safety of a product or service, counterfeiting, fraud, or suitability of the product or service to minors. In such cases, the business user shall be notified without undue delay and be provided with a statement of reasons for that decision.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 411 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2
2. Providers of online search engines shall set out for corporate website users the main parameters determining ranking and the reasons for the relative importance of those main parameters as opposed to other parameters, by providing an easily and publicly available description, drafted in clear and unambiguous language on the online search engines of those providers. They shall keep that description up to date.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 415 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Individual parameters determining ranking shall be applied in a non- discriminatory manner.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 416 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Where those main parameters include the possibility to influence ranking against any direct or indirect remuneration paid by corporate website users to the provider of online search engine concerned, that provider of online search engine shall also include in its terms and conditions a description of those possibilities and of the effects of such remuneration on ranking. In any case, providers of online search engines shall not influence ranking of search results against any direct or indirect remuneration paid by corporate website users, unless they mark search results where remuneration was paid in a clearly identifiable manner.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 518 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Business users shall have the right to receive ratings, reviews or any other data concerning themselves that they have accumulated on online intermediation services, regardless of whether they have provided such data to the provider of online intermediation services, in a structured, commonly used and machine- readable format. They shall have the right to transfer such data to another provider of similar online intermediation services with a comparable system of ratings and reviews. Where technically feasible, business users shall have the right to have such data transmitted directly from one provider of online intermediation services to another.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 521 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. The provider of the online intermediation service shall require users to indicate their status as traders or non- traders; traders will be required to provide in a clear and comprehensible manner, their identity, such as trading name, incorporation details, VAT number, geographical address, and means of contact (email, phone number and person of contact).
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 524 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. The provider of the online intermediation service shall not for commercial purposes disclose to third parties, including within their corporate structure, data generated by the transactions of a business user without the explicit consent of the business user.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 532 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1
1. Where, in the provision of their services, pProviders of online intermediation services shall not restrict the ability of business users to offer the same goods and services to consumers under different conditions through other means than through those services, they shall include grounds for that restriction in their terms and conditions and make those grounds easily available to the public. Those grounds shall include the main economic, commercial or legal considerations for those restrictions.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 541 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2
2. The obligation set out in paragraph 1 shall not affect any prohibitions or limitations in respect of the imposition of such restrictions that result from the application of other Union rules or from national rules that are in accordance with Union law and to which the providers of the online intermediation services are subject.deleted
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 704 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 a (new)
Article 13a Competent authorities and enforcement 1. Each Member State shall designate a competent authority at national level, which shall be responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with this Regulation and have the following powers: (a) to initiate and conduct investigations on its own initiative or based on a complaint; (b) to require online intermediaries and providers of online search engines to provide all necessary information in order to carry out investigations; (c) to take a decision establishing an infringement of the prohibitions laid down in this Regulation and require the online intermediary or online search engine provider to cease the infringement; (d) to impose a pecuniary fine on the provider. The fine shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive taking into account the nature, duration and gravity of the infringement; and (e) to publish its decisions and report annually on its activities under this Regulation. 2. A business user, corporate website user or an organisation or association which meets the first three requirements of paragraph 2 of article 12 may address a complaint to the competent authority of the relevant Member State. The competent authority shall ensure, if so requested by the complainant, the confidentiality of the identity of the complainant and any other information, in respect of which the complainant considers disclosure harmful to its interests. The complainant shall identify such information in a possible request for confidentiality. 3. Member States shall ensure that competent authorities cooperate effectively with each other and provide each other mutual assistance in investigations that have a cross-border dimension. 4. Competent authorities and national competition authorities, were these do not coincide, shall provide each other with the information necessary for the application of the provisions of this Regulation. In respect of the information exchanged, the receiving authority shall ensure the same level of confidentiality as the originating authority.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 705 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 a (new)
Article 13a Enforcement authorities 1. The public body nominated or set up according to Article 12, paragraph 2, subparagraph 2 shall be responsible for the adequate and effective enforcement of this Regulation. 2. Member States shall lay down rules setting out the measures applicable to infringements of the provisions of this Regulation and shall ensure that they are implemented. The measures provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. 3. The public body shall give guidance to business users in detecting unfair practices from platforms. 4. The public bodies referred to in paragraph 1 shall be communicated to the Commission and made publicly available on the Commission's website.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO
Amendment 709 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 b (new)
Article 13b Information required from online intermediaries and liability rules 1. Member States shall ensure that online intermediaries provide all the information necessary for competent authorities to monitor and enforce compliance with the provisions of this Regulation, to assist the Commission in drawing up Guidelines as set out in Article 6 and to support the role of the Observatory in completing its tasks, set out in Article 2 of the Commission Decision of 26.4.2018 on setting up the group of experts for the Observatory on the Online Platform Economy. 2. Such information requirements shall include: (a) the main parameters determining ranking of offers and their relative importance presented to the consumer as result of his search query; (b) whether the third party offering the goods, services or digital content is a trader or not, on the basis of the declaration of that third party to the online intermediary service provider; (c) whether consumer rights stemming from Union consumer legislation apply or not to the contract concluded; (d) where the contract is concluded with a trader, which trader is responsible for ensuring the application of consumer rights stemming from Union consumer legislation in relation to the contract. This requirement is without prejudice to the responsibility that the online intermediary service provider may have or may assume with regard to specific elements of the contract; and (e) whether and how algorithms or automated decision making were used, to present offers or determine prices, including personalised pricing techniques. Member States may maintain or introduce in their national law additional information requirements and liability rules for contracts concluded on online marketplaces. 3. Undertakings shall provide such information promptly upon request and in conformity with the timescales and level of detail required. The information requested shall be proportionate to the performance of that task. The competent authority shall give the reasons justifying its request for information. 4. Where information is considered confidential by a competent authority in accordance with Union and national rules on business confidentiality or the protection of personal data, the competent authorities concerned shall ensure such confidentiality.
2018/10/08
Committee: IMCO