BETA

Activities of Richard SULÍK related to 2018/2008(INI)

Shadow reports (1)

2016/11/22
Committee: IMCO
Dossiers: 2018/2008(INI)
Documents: PDF(459 KB) DOC(97 KB)

Amendments (34)

Motion for a resolution
Recital D

D. whereas there have been substantial differences in the implementation of the UCPD from one Member State to another, while the methodological approaches and effectiveness of the resolution and enforcement of the UCPD varies significantly between Member States;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Recital E

E. whereas ion ~~its 2018 Work Programme, the Commission announced plans to propose ‘~~11 April 2018 the Commission published 'A New Deal for Consumers’', ~~a targeted revisi~~which, among of the ~~EU consumer directives following on from the Fitness Check of EU consumer and marketing laws~~r things, sufficiently addresses in law the phenomenon of dual quality by proposing to supplement Article 6(2) of the UCPD;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)

Ea. whereas an effective solution to the problem of the dual quality of products can partly be sought through primarily non-legislative means at national level, for instance through the introduction of methodological approaches on the enforcement of UCPD, recommendations, the sharing of best practices, open public debate and the raising of public awareness;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1

1. ~~Underlin~~Acknowledges that results of various tests conducted in several Member States with differing methodologies for laboratory testing have proven that there are differences of various magnitudes between products which are advertised and distributed in the single market under the same brand and with ~~the same~~similar packaging;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)

1a. Stresses that the results of these laboratory tests, which were carried out in several Member States, cannot serve as credible and objective proof of the existence of dual product quality, or as a basis for a new legislative initiative, as Member States did not follow the same methodology, did not always compare the reference products, and the results were not assessed under the same definition of a 'significant difference' that would point to significant differences in composition and not, for instance, merely to sensory differences;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2

2. Highlights that the cases reported concern not only food products but also non-food products, including detergents, cosmetics, toiletries and products intended for babies; notes that these too have not been tested using the same methodology;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
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, which will contribute to an overall assessment of how serious and widespread the issue of dual quality on the Single Market is, and allocating a budget for its preparation and enforcement and for collection of further evidence;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)

4a. Welcomes the Commission's approach in the recent New Deal for Consumers, which in the section revising the UCPD adequately addresses the dual quality phenomenon by proposing to supplement Article 6(2) of the UCPD; recalls that the conformity assessment does not quantify the cases or products concerned by this phenomenon;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)

4b. Welcomes the Commission's initiative to develop a code of conduct with business representatives, in particular food producers and retailers, on how to ensure greater transparency on product composition that exceeds the current legal obligations;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

4c. Stresses that product quality is closely linked to the price that the consumer is willing to pay; points out that the problem of double quality cannot be assessed independently of different living standards and wage levels;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)

5a. Recommends that the Member States concerned draw up their own assessment of the methodology and effectiveness of enforcement of the UCPD and other existing legislation on the issue of the dual quality of food and other products and submit them to the Commission for an objective assessment of the seriousness of the problem;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)

6a. Stresses that comprehensive information on the public authority responsible for taking action and on relevant administrative or judicial proceedings, including the possibility for members of the public to file online complaints, is vital for the effective enforcement of the UCPD; views as negative, therefore, the lack of information in the Member States concerned which, in spite of the concerns expressed by the Member States about the need to address the dual product quality issue, do not make this information available on the websites of the responsible authorities;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)

7a. Welcomes the fact that, in order to further improve consumer protection in the EU and provide support for businesses, the Commission has launched an online training programme to help companies better understand and enforce consumer rights in the EU;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)

7b. Considers it important to approach dual quality solely from the point of view of the possible misleading of consumers through visually similar packaging; stresses that the intention is not to lay down or harmonise food quality requirements, because quality has no legislative definition and cannot be objectively defined in terms of the subjective perception of the consumer;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 c (new)

7c. Stresses that dual quality can now be regarded as an unfair practice if a product of the same brand is potentially capable of interfering with the consumer's economic behaviour by its similarity to the reference product of the same brand;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 d (new)

7d. Recalls that food safety standards are set out in Regulation (EC) No 178/200210a, and the identified dual quality cases meet the defined requirements and that, therefore, the issue of dual quality of food products does not relate to their safety; _________________ 10aRegulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety.

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 e (new)

7e. Recalls that the obligation to indicate the composition of products is set out in Regulation (EU) No 1169/201110b of the European Parliament and of the Council, and that the identified dual quality cases meet the defined requirements and that, therefore, the issue of dual quality of food products does not relate to the issue of insufficient information on their composition; _________________ 10bRegulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004.

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
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 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 without further guidelines, common testing methodology and enhanced information exchange at EU level;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)

12a. Notes that the methodology itself cannot provide a unified approach to dual quality assessment unless it also includes guidance on the uniform evaluation of test results, including a definition of 'significant difference' that clearly determines what sort of difference in composition is serious enough to be qualified as 'dual quality';

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)

13a. Notes that there are acceptable differences in the composition of a single brand's product due to taste preferences, purchasing power, the different levels of technological facilities used in the production and processing of raw materials from different regions, or for other legitimate reasons;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14

14. Underlines that private labels have become an essential staple in consumers’ shopping baskets and that their market share has increased across most product categories in most Member States over the past decade; believes that private labels should not give the impression of a branded product so as to prevent consumer confusion; reasserts that the issue of private labels requires particular attention from the Commission;deleted

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)

16a. Points out that the testing methodology itself and the evaluation of its results, together with their subsequent transparent disclosure for the purpose of informing consumers and producers, should contribute to a significant reduction in the occurrence of significant differences in the composition of foods under the same brand and using similar packaging;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)

17a. Calls on the Commission to incorporate a price differentiation factor, including different VAT rates for food in individual Member States, when evaluating the results of product comparisons; stresses that the tests published concerning the Member States did not pay attention to prices and thus led to misleading conclusions about the relationship between the composition and the price of the products;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18

18. Invites consumer organisations and the notified national bodies responsible for enforcement of the UCPD and other relevant legislation to play an active role in the public debate and in informing consumers;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
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, or have attempted to do so only to a minimum extent, without testing methodologies or evaluations of the results, and without methodologies for the enforcement process;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)

19a. Is convinced that any legislative or non-legislative proposal must be preceded by a detailed assessment of the issue of dual quality in the single market; calls, therefore, on the Commission to come up with a study to clarify what parts of a range being sold are affected by the issue of dual quality and what real enforcement options are available under current legislation;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 b (new)

19b. Points out that amending the legislation does not remove the issue of double quality, because misleading consumers is already prohibited under current legislation; recalls that the factual nature of unfair practices will always be judged only on a case-by-case basis, since the extent of the act of misleading the consumer when comparing similar packaging is always a matter of subjective judgment;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20

20. Draws attention to the fact that the issue of 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;deleted

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
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 practice in Annex I leads to greater legal certainty~~points out that the addition of a new unfair practice to the list in Annex I to the UCPD could bring about negative unintended consequences in the form of supply constraints and an increase in products' price levels for consumers;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

23. Calls on the Commission to extend the mandate given to the Joint Research Centre to work on a harmonised methodology for comparing characteristics of non-food products in the near future and to evaluate the results of tests using a clear definition of 'significant difference';

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)

23a. Calls on the responsible national authorities of the Member States concerned to pay increased attention to the enforcement of the UCPD and to issues of dual quality, and to specify the specific problems they face in enforcing the UCPD;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 b (new)

23b. Calls on the Member States to exchange experiences and information on possible unfair practices in the food sector, as appropriate, in order to improve and approximate the enforcement of existing legislation following the best practices approach;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 c (new)

23c. Calls on the Member States to inform consumers as far as possible of their rights and options as regards the enforcement of existing legislation and the obligations of vendors to inform them of the composition and origin of products;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO

Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 d (new)

23d. Recalls that the adequate enforcement of the UCPD is fully in the hands of the Member States, and it is thus their duty to provide consumers with a space for the submission of complaints and their further investigation;

2018/04/18
Committee: IMCO