WIREDGOV

The EU is introducing new rules offering businesses a more transparent, fair and predictable online platform environment, as well as an efficient system for seeking redress. Member states' ambassadors meeting in Coreper yesterday endorsed the provisional agreement reached on 13 February with the European Parliament on a draft regulation that addresses relations between online platforms and businesses that conduct their business through them.

Niculae BĂDĂLĂU, Romanian Minister of economy yesterday said:

These new rules will create the predictability which is necessary for EU businesses if they want to reap the full benefits of the platform economy. This is a very important step towards the completion of the EU digital single market. Transparency is key.

The main goal of the regulation is to establish a legal framework that guarantees transparent terms and conditions for business users of online platforms, as well as effective possibilities for redress when these terms and conditions are not respected by online platforms.

The online platforms covered by the regulation include online market places, online software application stores and/or online social media, as well as online search engines, irrespective of their place of establishment, provided they serve business users that are established within the EU and that they offer goods or services to consumers who are also located within the EU.

As regards transparency, platforms are required to use plain and intelligible terms and conditions for the provision of their online intermediation services. They should provide a statement of reasons each time they decide to restrict, suspend or terminate the use of their services by a business user. Furthermore, platforms should disclose publicly the main parameters determining the ranking of business users in search results, as well as any differentiated treatment that they grant to goods and/or services offered directly by them or through any business falling under their remit. They should also disclose the description of the main economic, commercial or legal considerations for restricting the ability of business users to offer different conditions to consumers outside the platform.

Concerning redress mechanisms, the regulation obliges all platforms (apart from the smallest, as clearly defined in the regulation) to set up an efficient and swift internal complaint-handling system and to report annually on its effectiveness. It also requires platforms to list in their terms and conditions two or more mediators for cases when the internal complaint-handling system is not able to resolve a dispute between their business users. The regulation establishes the right of representative organisations, associations or public bodies to initiate judicial proceedings against platforms that do not comply with the requirements of the regulation. Finally, the regulation empowers Member States to set out penalties in line with their national systems  when there are infringements of the regulation.  The Commission is invited to:

• encourage platforms to set up bodies of independent specialised mediators,
• draw up codes of conduct and
• regularly assess the functioning of the new rules.

The regulation shall apply twelve months from the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

Next steps

The agreed text, following the usual legal-linguistic scrutiny, will be submitted for formal adoption by the European Parliament and the Council shortly.

Background

Online platforms are key enablers of digital trade. At present, more than a million EU businesses trade through online platforms in order to reach their customers, and it is estimated that around 60% of private consumption and 30% of public consumption of goods and services related to the total digital economy are transacted via online intermediaries.

While offering great potential in terms of efficient access to (cross-border) markets, European businesses cannot fully exploit the potential of the online platform economy due to a number of potentially harmful trading practices and a lack of effective redress mechanisms in the Union. At the same time, online service providers face difficulties operating across the single market due to emerging fragmentation.

• Read the full text here.

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Leonidas Karamountzos

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