Geoblocks to become a thing of the past under European Parliament measures
The rules will allow buyers to shop online in the EU without being blocked from a retailer’s website or automatically re-routed to their Irish address — where products may be more expensive.
However, those hoping to access Netflix content that is on offer in other EU countries but not in Ireland will be disappointed, as the law does not cover copyrighted digital material.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) said 63% of websites assessed in a survey by the commission do not let shoppers buy from another EU country, a practice that will no longer be allowed under the new measures. The survey found geo-blocking was highest for electrical household appliances (86%), while for services it was for online reservations of the offline leisure sector, such as sports event tickets (40%).
MEP Róza Thun said the new law “is an important step towards an even more competitive and integrated digital single market, for both consumers and traders”.
“It also represents another milestone in the fight against the discrimination of consumers based on their nationality or place of residence, which should never be taking place in our united Europe. We have proven that the European Union can deliver concrete results for the citizens all over Europe, bringing positive changes in their daily lives,” Ms Thun said.
“What we have achieved is that the online shopping and shopping in the real world come closer and closer together, that nobody can be discriminated against on the internet.”
Traders will have to treat online shoppers from another EU country in the same way as local customers when buying goods that they deliver or make available for collection. IMCO said the laws would not compel traders to deliver anywhere in the EU, but should afford buyers the option to have the package delivered from an agreed location.
The new legislation also covers in-house or on-site services such as hotel stays, sports events, car rentals, music festivals or leisure park tickets.
However, while the law will also allow customers to receive the same electronically supplied services — such as cloud services, firewalls, data warehousing, website hosting — this will not extend to digital copyrighted content, such as e-books, downloadable music or online games.
The EU Commission will review this aspect of the law within two years to see whether the new legislation needs to extend to this content also.
The new law was approved by 557 votes to 89, with 33 abstentions, yesterday but still needs to be formally approved by the European Council. However it is expected that they will be in place by the end of the year.
