Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-06-09-Speech-4-034-000"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20110609.4.4-034-000"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Madam President, the volume of complaints regarding misleading directory companies shows that this is a serious problem for SMEs. Rogue business directory companies are both inflicting financial damage and harassing small companies. In the period from 2003 to mid-2008, nearly 14 000 complaints and enquiries were documented. Hundreds of letters of complaint are still being received from new victims.
The difficulties involved in tracking down activities of this nature undermine the very functioning of the Internal Market. Misleading practices are illegal under the Misleading and Comparative Advertising Directive and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
But there is a lack of effective legal remedies and enforcement. The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee, as the committee responsible for the legislation, has recently taken up this issue with the Dutch authorities, drawing their attention to fraudulent practices by a business directory company established in the Netherlands.
The answer of the Dutch authorities clearly shows that Member States are mostly concerned about what happens in their own territory. I believe that given the cross-border nature of the problem, more cooperation between Member States on enforcement would also be absolutely crucial to stop the fraudulent practices.
The Commission could itself take a more active role in working together with the Member States on cross-border enforcement using existing EU-wide networks to facilitate cooperation between the Member States. More emphasis should be placed on effective and dissuasive sanctions against such fraudulent practices in all Member States, which would put such directory companies out of business and enable those who run them to be punished.
It should be envisaged to extend the scope for the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive to encompass all commercial practices in a business-to-consumer relationship, whether aiming at the protection of consumers or competitors. In that way, most if not all unfair business-to-business commercial practices in the retail sector would be covered and governed by the same set of rules as unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices, with which they generally overlap.
It is also important to help businesses combat the scam by improving access to information and awareness raising by improving redress mechanisms. I wish to ask the Commissioner: what are the major obstacles for stronger involvement of state authorities in cross-border enforcement cooperation, and what measures does the Commission envisage in the fight against rogue directory companies?"@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata | |
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples