Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-03-23-Speech-3-221-000"
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"en.20110323.21.3-221-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start by offering my thanks to all my fellow Members who worked on this directive and on the compromise under debate today. I say this not out of politeness, but out of sincere gratitude. They were Mrs Wallis from the Committee on Legal Affairs as the rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee, Mrs Gebhardt, Mrs Turunen and Mr Rochefort, as well as Mr Triantaphyllides and Mr Bielan. Reaching a decision was not always an easy process, with more than 2 000 amendments tabled over the course of two years, but the discussions were always constructive and I thank you all sincerely for that.
Despite all the technical differences on individual issues, which are given expression in the various compromises, there is general cross-group agreement on today’s signal from the European Parliament that we wish to develop the internal market in the interests of consumers and businesses. After all, even twenty years after the internal market was established through the Single European Act, we still find that, despite a host of directives and regulations, true standardisation has not been achieved. The Member States have exploited their room for manoeuvre, sometimes justly, but sometimes unjustly.
The directive before us today establishes a good middle way that regulates the issues relating to the internal market, while leaving legislative decisions on all other matters to the Member States themselves. We can go far with this mixed approach and will garner support from all sides of the House. This has involved supporting the Commission’s proposal, while also improving it considerably at many points. We have ensured that consumer protection is given appropriate importance in this Directive by establishing a uniform fourteen-day right of withdrawal for all online contracts on an EU-wide basis; by giving consumers dealing with door-to-door sales the choice of whether to receive a printed copy or an electronic copy of the contract document; by providing a ‘button solution’ to bring greater transparency to Internet business and at the same time to really step up the fight against Internet scams; and, by finally establishing uniform obligations to provide information, in particular in relation to pricing, in other words full pricing information for all Internet and door-to-door transactions.
However, we have also made the directive practicable for small and medium-sized enterprises and small contractors by providing greater flexibility and exclusions for services, in particular, in many areas; by permitting consumers to withdraw from agreements by telephone; by removing some opportunities for businesses to implement unfair contract terms, while at the same time setting down clear conditions for consumers for the return of ordered goods when a purchase is cancelled; and, by finally establishing a uniform withdrawal form that will make it easier for many people throughout Europe to access and exercise their right of withdrawal.
In the end, thanks also to the process of consultation between the Member States, we will succeed in making further legal developments in this important area of consumer protection much less complicated at Council level than has been the case in the past. The Commission will have a clear right to be heard at Council level because there can be no doubt that a common market requires common rules. We saw this more clearly than ever during the Euro crisis. It is not enough to espouse common principles only to allow the Member States full freedom in the end – common principles must be adhered to through common rules. That is why this Directive aims to protect consumers. After all, consumers will be aware of their rights if they are the same throughout Europe and will be able to pursue these rights more effectively against businesses who break the rules. The directive also protects small and medium-sized enterprises, above all, because a uniform set of regulations engenders legal certainty, enabling the cultural and commercial diversity we so often hear about to flourish. Thank you for your cooperation. I look forward to the forthcoming debate."@en1
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