European Parliament votes in favour of Digital Single Market Act

“I am very happy that this report clearly states that we need pro-innovation and pro-digital policies in Europe. If we want to give companies the chance to innovate, we have to give a clear signal that we support innovation”, declared MEP Kallas, Co-rapporteur for the report. MEPs generally welcomed the Commission’s initiatives, which have the potential to significantly boost the growth of the ecommerce sector, but expressed their concern about the risk of different rules for online and offline sales and the lack of measures to address geo-blocking.

Same rules needed for online and offline sales
There was a clear consensus among MEPs about the need for the regulatory harmonization of online and offline sales.

MEP Gebhardt - Co-rapporteur for the Digital Single Market Act - argued that the separate legal regimes are creating problems for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and called for further negotiations with the European Commission to resolve the issue. MEP Ford likewise highlighted the fact that the difference in rules is a source of confusion and legal uncertainty for companies.

Unjustified geo-blocking is bad for business
Many MEPs raised the issue of unjustified geo-blocking and urged the European Commission to put forward a concrete proposal to end this discriminatory practice so that European consumers have better access to online goods and services.

Next steps
The resolution on the Digital Single Market Act was adopted by a large majority of 551 votes to 88. Although not legally binding, the resolution is a clear outline of the Parliament’s views regarding the different initiatives contained within the Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy.