Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-10-Speech-1-095"
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"en.20050110.14.1-095"2
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".
The proposal for a regulation on sales promotions that was strongly supported by this House two years ago is a key internal market initiative linked to the achievement of a smooth-running internal market for services. I am therefore pleased to see that Parliament has maintained its interest in this text in spite of the fact that the Council is still considering it.
Sales promotions are key tools to market goods and services. They cover discounts of all forms: premium offers, free gifts, promotional contests and promotional games. They are a tool for entering into new markets with innovative products or services, for encouraging customer loyalty, for stimulating competitive actions, or for efficiently managing stocks, to name just a few areas in which sales promotions are crucial. Their design, execution and communication accounts for a large number of jobs in the EU, with investments representing billions of euro.
Sales promotions are essential to the development of cross-border trade in products and services within the internal market. This is particularly true for small- and medium-sized enterprises in their development of new markets. Yet the free movement of goods and services is seriously hindered due to a myriad of different national rules governing sales promotions.
I wish to assure you that the Commission has made its best efforts to assist the successive presidencies-in-office of the Council to achieve a political agreement. In particular, the Commission has shown great flexibility in terms of the two key remaining issues, which are the choice of the legal instrument and the inclusion of a mutual recognition clause in the text.
As regards the implications of the Lisbon Strategy, it is clear that if the current position were not to alter, then this impasse would suggest that the Council would be unable to achieve the internal market commitments it has set itself in that context. However, the Commission does not believe that the negotiations on this text are over.
The alternative to harmonisation will be Court rulings that would lift the identified disproportionate restrictions, but this will not harmonise provisions that achieve a high level of consumer protection, including the protection of minors. The Commission trusts that the Council will not find this a satisfactory proposition. The Commission will therefore continue work with the incoming presidency with a view to finding a solution that brings about a genuine single market for sales promotions."@en1
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