Stakeholders Dialogue: Unjustified geo-blocking within the European Digital Single organized by the Malta Business Bureau and the European Parliament – Jan 2017

Stakeholders Dialogue: Unjustified geo-blocking within the European Digital Single organized by the Malta Business Bureau and the European Parliament

Information Office in Malta – 20.01.2017 Dar l-Ewropa, Valletta

Summary: Definition of Geo-blocking: addressing geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on customers’ nationality, place of residence or place of establishment within the internal market

Key points: The assessment of current practices makes it clear that there are still many obstacles to cross-border on-line transactions. Limited market cross-border development is often not a consequence of unfair market segmentation, but is the result of traders’ uncertainty concerning consumer attitudes and remaining administrative obstacles, differing regulatory environments and language barriers. Uncertainties of this kind are also harmful to consumers’ confidence. Lack of information also contributes to the fact that e-commerce (both buying and selling) is rapidly taking off nationally, but remains underdeveloped in the cross-border context. There are also substantial differences in transnational trading between sectors, bigger and smaller companies and types of operators such as retailers or intermediaries and websites

For more information See EESC Opinion INT/797 Unjustified geo-blocking (addressing geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on customers’ nationality, place of residence or place of establishment within the internal market)