TECHNICAL CONSUMER GOODS SMARTreport

CONFERENCES
Further Onwards -
Towards The Digital Single Market
Thomas Kramler - DG Competition - European Commission explains
the current state of play and next steps
In September 2016, the European Commission's preliminary report
on its e-commerce sector inquiry confirmed the fast growth of
e-commerce in the EU and identified business practices that might
restrict competition and limit consumer choice. We asked Thomas
Kramler - DG Competition at the European Commission to tell us
more about the key findings…
Obviously, the growth of e-commerce
affects businesses and consumers alike.
One of the major features we have identified
about e-commerce is that it leads to more
price transparency overall, which in turn
leads to more price competition. That brings
challenges for businesses, each of which
reacts differently. One of the reactions that
one can observe from businesses to the
growth of e-commerce is more vertical
integration, meaning more manufacturers
are setting up their own retail websites.
Another trend is a rise in so-called selective
distribution models, wherein manufacturers
pick and choose the retailers they deal with
– giving the manufacturer more control over
the retailing channel, pricing, and quality of
distribution chain. We have also observed
the “renaissance” of what we call in
competition law “vertical restraints”, which
can raise concerns from a competition
policy and law perspective, where we see
resale price maintenance, and restrictions
to online sales, online advertising and
territorial restrictions. The latter is an issue
of particular concern as it impacts the digital
single market that the Commission wants
to create.
core of the digital single market strategy,
which the commission adopted last year,
in which a number of actions were set out
concerning the regulatory environment.
The first and foremost actions you will
see from the European Commission are
those that aim to make it easier for online
retailers, but also manufacturers, to sell
cross-border. This concerns areas such as
consumer protection rules and VAT rules
– where legislation is already on the table.
When it comes specifically to competition
law enforcement, our priority is now towards
looking into agreements that prevent
retailers from selling cross-border, or make
it difficult for them to sell online, because we
think there is a big potential in online sales.
What is the timeframe for the next steps?
The fact finding and public consultation
on the e-commerce sector inquiry are
now complete. The next step is that the
Commission will produce a final report on
all the findings. We will outline the concrete
policy steps that need to be taken in order
to follow up on the findings and issues
that have been identified - and that will be
coming in the second half of 2017.
One of the
major features we
have identified
about e-commerce
is that it leads
to more price
transparency
overall
Thomas
Kramler
DG Competition at the European
Commission
What are the main goals of this study?
Overall, the commission’s main goal is to
foster a digital single market, making crossborder
e-commerce easier. This is in the
24 European TCG Retail Summit SMARTreport / Special Issue N° 3 / January 2017