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EU LEGISLATION<br />
Malta Business Review<br />
ENDING UNJUSTIFIED GEO-BLOCKING:<br />
EP/COUNCIL NEGOTIATORS STRIKE A DEAL<br />
BY ISABEL TEIXEIRA NADKARNI<br />
Rules to ensure that buyers of goods or<br />
services from another EU country are treated<br />
like local customers were provisionally agreed<br />
by Parliament and Council negotiators on<br />
Monday night.<br />
The new EU rules define specific situations in<br />
which geo-blocking will not be allowed. This<br />
means that online sellers will not be able to<br />
discriminate against consumers elsewhere<br />
in the EU with regard to general terms and<br />
conditions, including prices, on the basis of<br />
their nationality, place of residence or even<br />
their temporary location.<br />
Róża Thun (EPP, PL), Parliament’s Internal<br />
Market and Consumer Protection Committee<br />
rapporteur, said: “I am happy that after one<br />
and a half years of hard work we agreed on a<br />
good deal, which opens the European market<br />
for consumers and traders. If this provisional<br />
agreement is confirmed by the Council<br />
and the Parliament, next Christmas 2018<br />
consumers can buy products in all Member<br />
States without being blocked or re-routed”.<br />
Next steps<br />
The provisional agreement still needs to<br />
be confirmed by the EU member states’<br />
permanent representatives (COREPER) and<br />
by Parliament’s Internal Market Committee.<br />
The draft regulation will then be put to a vote<br />
by the full Parliament in an upcoming plenary<br />
session and formally approved by the EU<br />
Council of Ministers. <strong>MBR</strong><br />
Courtesy: Isabel Teixeira NADKARNI, PO, EP<br />
Single Market<br />
MALTA TAKES ON GREENHOUSE GAS<br />
EMISSION REDUCTION COMMITMENTS<br />
This week the Government of Malta signed<br />
the instrument of ratification of the Doha<br />
Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol to the<br />
United Nations Framework Convention<br />
on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Minister for<br />
Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo<br />
Abela signed on behalf of Malta on 22nd<br />
November 2017.<br />
By endorsing the instrument of ratification,<br />
Malta has committed to accept its obligation<br />
to fulfil targets to limit or reduce greenhouse<br />
gas emissions within a set period. The Doha<br />
Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol aims<br />
to reduce these emissions by at least 18%<br />
below 1990 levels in the commitment period<br />
between 2013 and 2020.<br />
Minister Abela stated that “by signing this<br />
instrument, Malta is contributing to the<br />
collective effort by joining other countries<br />
at a United Nations level in a bid to limit the<br />
emissions of greenhouse gases caused by<br />
anthropogenic activity which are contributing<br />
to climate change.”<br />
Malta’s efforts to combat the negative<br />
effects of climate change include organising<br />
and hosting the Executive Session on<br />
Climate Change for Commonwealth Heads<br />
of Government on the eve of the 21st<br />
Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the<br />
UNFCCC, which led to the adoption by<br />
consensus of the Paris Agreement on 12th<br />
December 2015. <strong>MBR</strong><br />
Courtesy: THE MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN<br />
AFFAIRS AND TRADE PROMOTION/DOI<br />
www.maltabusinessreview.net<br />
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