BETA


2019/2190(INI) Addressing product safety in the Single Market

Progress: Procedure completed

RoleCommitteeRapporteurShadows
Lead IMCO WALSMANN Marion (icon: EPP EPP) LEITÃO-MARQUES Maria-Manuel (icon: S&D S&D), BOTOŞ Vlad-Marius (icon: Renew Renew), VAN SPARRENTAK Kim (icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE), BASSO Alessandra (icon: ID ID), MAZUREK Beata (icon: ECR ECR), PELLETIER Anne-Sophie (icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL)
Lead committee dossier:
Legal Basis:
RoP 54

Events

2021/06/02
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2020/11/25
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2020/11/25
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 688 votes to 8, with 1 abstention, a resolution on addressing product safety in the single market.

The resolution stressed that the COVID-19 crisis has shown that it is of paramount importance for the protection of people in the EU that the safety of all products needed to tackle this emergency and all the crises that might challenge the EU in the future is the highest, especially for medical and protective equipment, products sold online and offline, and products from outside the EU.

Safety of all products

While Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance only applies to products subject to EU harmonisation legislation, Parliament called on the Commission to define harmonised market surveillance rules for both harmonised and non-harmonised products placed on the offline or online market and to adapt them to the digital age to ensure a level playing field and improve product safety.

The Commission has been invited to address the challenges posed by emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, robotics, 3D printing and other technologies in its review of the General Product Safety Directive. This review should redefine the terms "product" and "safe product" and give priority to consumer rights and legal certainty.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Members believe that AI systems, whether stand-alone or embedded in a product, offer many opportunities and that they should use high-quality, unbiased data sets in order to be trustworthy and enhance consumer protection.

The Commission should therefore: (i) review existing AI standards and consult relevant stakeholders to determine what new standards are needed; (ii) regularly evaluate the EU regulatory framework to ensure product safety and consumer and data protection; (iii) take action in areas where there is a need to promote legal certainty and ensure harmonisation of rules within the EU.

Compliance with product safety rules

Parliament stressed the need to ensure a coherent approach to the application of product safety legislation. It invited the Commission to examine the feasibility of risk-based assessment systems, adapting their application to products presenting a high level of risk, as well as conformity assessment mechanisms, in order to ensure safety by default or from the design stage of products with embedded emerging technologies.

Members called for mandatory human oversight to be the default option for high-risk AI products and for effective checks on high-risk AI products to be carried out throughout the supply chain using reliable and impartial procedures. Product safety should be guaranteed as well as the right of consumers to demand to speak to a human being and not to automated systems.

The resolution also called for:

- a guarantee that connectivity infrastructures, including new communication technologies such as 5G, incorporate security and privacy by design and by default in order to improve the safety of connected products;

- an assessment of the need for legislation on mandatory cybersecurity requirements and appropriate market surveillance mechanisms.

Effective market surveillance

Parliament encouraged the Commission and the Member States to: (i) increase the resources and expertise of their market surveillance authorities; (ii) strengthen cooperation between them; and (iii) develop joint actions, including cross-border and online market actions; (iv) improve the effectiveness of controls and (v) provide market surveillance authorities, including customs authorities, with sufficient staff to be able to identify dangerous products, in particular those from third countries, and prevent them from circulating in the internal market.

The Commission is invited to:

- get a clearer picture of the phenomenon of counterfeiting and the role that market surveillance authorities and online marketplaces could play to better protect the health and safety of consumers;

- set minimum sampling rates; market surveillance authorities should carry out sector-specific mystery shopping, including in online marketplaces, on a regular basis or on sweep days;

- cooperate with third country regulators, exchange information on dangerous products related to market surveillance and include market surveillance provisions in all EU free trade agreements.

Safe products on online marketplaces

Members called on the Commission to: (i) encourage new online marketplaces to provide consumers with clear information on their rights; (ii) assess the role that online marketplaces could play in limiting the circulation of unsafe products and (iii) propose binding rules on the obligations and responsibilities of marketplaces established inside and outside the EU under digital services legislation.

Parliament insisted on the need for a level playing field between European and third country platforms in terms of compliance with EU product safety rules.

Commission's 2020 standardisation programme and traceability

Parliament welcomed the fact that the EU standardisation programme for 2020 addresses the emerging challenges in the digital single market. It asked the Commission to assess how distributed ledger technology, such as the block chain, could enhance product safety by improving the traceability of products throughout the supply chain, including through product standardisation.

Product recalls

Parliament called on retailers, online marketplaces and consumer associations to play a greater role in recalls of unsafe products purchased online or offline by providing adequate and reliable information to consumers. It called for online marketplaces to be required to put in place effective mechanisms to ensure that they can inform their users, buyers and sellers as quickly as possible when product recalls are necessary.

Documents
2020/11/25
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2020/11/23
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2020/11/03
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
Documents
2020/11/03
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Documents
2020/10/26
   EP - Vote in committee
2020/05/20
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2020/04/02
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2019/12/19
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2019/11/06
   EP - WALSMANN Marion (EPP) appointed as rapporteur in IMCO

Documents

Votes

A9-0207/2020 - Marion Walsmann - Am 2 #

2020/11/24 Outcome: -: 360, +: 323, 0: 17
FR DE ES PT CY DK MT FI SK EL SE SI LV IE HR BE LU LT AT EE NL BG HU CZ IT RO PL
Total
79
95
59
21
6
14
6
13
14
21
21
8
8
13
12
20
6
11
19
7
29
17
21
21
75
33
51
icon: S&D S&D
144

Cyprus S&D

2

Greece S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

2

Latvia S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Lithuania S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
68

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

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1

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
39

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

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1

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1

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1

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1

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1
icon: NI NI
31

Germany NI

2

Slovakia NI

For (1)

Abstain (1)

2

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1

Croatia NI

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1

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3

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4

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icon: Renew Renew
97

Finland Renew

2

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3

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2

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1

Ireland Renew

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Luxembourg Renew

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Lithuania Renew

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1

Estonia Renew

3

Bulgaria Renew

3

Hungary Renew

2

Italy Renew

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1
icon: PPE PPE
185

Cyprus PPE

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2

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1

A9-0207/2020 - Marion Walsmann - Am 1 #

2020/11/24 Outcome: -: 356, +: 325, 0: 19
FR DE ES PT CY DK MT FI SK EL SE BE LV IE HR LU SI LT AT EE NL BG CZ HU IT RO PL
Total
79
95
59
21
6
14
6
13
14
21
21
20
8
13
12
6
8
11
19
7
29
17
21
21
75
33
51
icon: S&D S&D
144

Cyprus S&D

2

Greece S&D

2

Latvia S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1

Slovenia S&D

2

Lithuania S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
68

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Poland Verts/ALE

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1
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39

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2

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1

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1
icon: NI NI
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2

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1

Croatia NI

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2

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1

Hungary NI

1
icon: ID ID
75

Denmark ID

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Finland ID

2

Austria ID

3

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1

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1

Czechia ID

2
icon: ECR ECR
61

Germany ECR

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1

Slovakia ECR

2

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1
3

Belgium ECR

2

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2

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1

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1

Netherlands ECR

4

Bulgaria ECR

2

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1
icon: Renew Renew
97

Finland Renew

2

Slovakia Renew

2

Sweden Renew

3

Latvia Renew

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1

Ireland Renew

2

Croatia Renew

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1

Luxembourg Renew

2

Slovenia Renew

2

Lithuania Renew

2

Austria Renew

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1

Estonia Renew

3

Bulgaria Renew

3

Hungary Renew

2

Italy Renew

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1
icon: PPE PPE
185

Cyprus PPE

2

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Abstain (2)

4

Estonia PPE

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1

A9-0207/2020 - Marion Walsmann – Résolution #

2020/11/25 Outcome: +: 688, -: 8, 0: 1
DE FR IT ES PL RO NL BE SE PT HU AT BG EL FI DK SK CZ IE HR LT LV SI EE CY MT LU
Total
92
79
74
59
51
33
29
21
21
21
21
19
17
20
14
14
14
21
13
12
11
8
8
7
6
6
6
icon: PPE PPE
186

Denmark PPE

For (1)

1

Latvia PPE

2

Estonia PPE

For (1)

1
2

Malta PPE

2

Luxembourg PPE

2
icon: S&D S&D
140

Greece S&D

For (1)

1

Lithuania S&D

2

Latvia S&D

2

Slovenia S&D

2

Estonia S&D

2

Cyprus S&D

2

Luxembourg S&D

For (1)

1
icon: Renew Renew
98

Italy Renew

For (1)

1

Hungary Renew

2

Austria Renew

For (1)

1

Finland Renew

3

Slovakia Renew

2

Ireland Renew

2

Croatia Renew

For (1)

1

Lithuania Renew

2

Latvia Renew

For (1)

1

Slovenia Renew

2

Estonia Renew

3

Luxembourg Renew

2
icon: ID ID
74

Netherlands ID

Against (1)

1
3

Finland ID

2

Denmark ID

For (1)

1

Czechia ID

For (1)

Against (1)

2

Estonia ID

For (1)

1
icon: ECR ECR
62

Germany ECR

For (1)

1

Romania ECR

1

Bulgaria ECR

2

Greece ECR

1

Croatia ECR

For (1)

1

Lithuania ECR

1

Latvia ECR

2
icon: Verts/ALE Verts/ALE
68

Spain Verts/ALE

3

Poland Verts/ALE

For (1)

1

Netherlands Verts/ALE

3

Belgium Verts/ALE

3

Sweden Verts/ALE

3

Portugal Verts/ALE

1

Austria Verts/ALE

3

Finland Verts/ALE

3

Denmark Verts/ALE

2

Czechia Verts/ALE

3

Ireland Verts/ALE

2

Lithuania Verts/ALE

2

Latvia Verts/ALE

1

Luxembourg Verts/ALE

For (1)

1
icon: GUE/NGL GUE/NGL
39

Netherlands GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Belgium GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Sweden GUE/NGL

For (1)

1

Finland GUE/NGL

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1

Denmark GUE/NGL

1

Czechia GUE/NGL

1

Cyprus GUE/NGL

2
icon: NI NI
30

Germany NI

2

Netherlands NI

1

Hungary NI

1

Slovakia NI

For (1)

Abstain (1)

2
AmendmentsDossier
289 2019/2190(INI)
2020/05/20 IMCO 289 amendments...
source: 652.340

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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EP
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Internal Market and Consumer Protection
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IMCO
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European Conservatives and Reformists Group
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