MEPs voted on Wednesday (13/12/23) to extend the provisions on the ban on geoblocking, i.e. blocking certain services and goods depending on the Member State. These are situations where residents of one Member State were unable to shop online or use services offered in another EU country simply because of their geographical location.
– It was discrimination. If I can physically walk into a store in France and buy a sweater, why can’t I do the same online? After all, we have a common market, said Polish MEP Róża Thun (Third Way), who for a long time dealt with geo-blocking regulations in the European Parliament.
Finally, four years ago, the EU introduced rules banning geo-blocking in online shopping and services; Today, a seller cannot refuse to sell products just because the customer lives in a country other than the one where the store is located. Sellers are still not obliged to guarantee the shipment of goods to all EU countries, but when the buyer arranges the transport, they cannot refuse him.
Without access to news?
However, not all services have been unblocked because EU regulations do not cover audiovisual content, such as movies, music, e-books, software or online games. Today, for example, Netflix users still do not have access to their favorite series when they are in another country (the platforms have different offers in different Member States), nor can they watch TV programs from their country, for example news or broadcasts of sports events, such as matches football. The services either cannot be purchased at all when abroad, or the well-known message “the service is unavailable in your country for technical reasons” appears.
Some people circumvent the restrictions on their own, for example by connecting to the network via VPN. – I would like to have Netflix and Spotify in Italian to improve my language skills, but being in Poland I don’t have such an opportunity. I know there is a problem with buying e-books from French bookstore websites. Everyone buys books through American websites because there is no blockade there. It makes no sense, because culture should unite us, but our access to it is blocked – complains Róża Thun in an interview with DW.
The politician blames lobbyists for this state of affairs. – Lobbying was huge, both from Netflix and Spotify. But it was similar when we banned geoblocking for online shopping; producers threatened us that since jeans in Romania cost half as much as in Germany, either German stores would go bankrupt or Romanian stores would raise prices, but nothing like that happened, says the MEP.
As EU officials add, sometimes bizarre situations arise. – There is a Portuguese portal called Filmin.pt, financed from EU funds, which is geoblocked and available only on the Portuguese market. Even Portuguese who live abroad do not have access to it, says Łukasz Klejnowski, an adviser from the European Parliament, to DW. As he notes, currently 14-15 million EU citizens, including one and a half million Poles, live in another EU country. – This is a huge potential for the market. All these people would probably be happy to pay for access to native content. Today it is blocked for them, says the official.
No lock. But gradually
The European Parliament wants the Commission to extend the rules. However, the blockage will not disappear so quickly. MEPs originally wanted the EC to extend the geoblocking regulations to audiovisual content as early as 2025, but finally on Wednesday the EP decided that this process would be gradual. Post-premiere films could be the first to go.
– We are talking about films that have been shown in the country of premiere for, for example, a year, where it is assumed that the producer’s earnings have already been achieved. This type of content could be easily unblocked, says Łukasz Klejnowski.
Next would be live sports broadcasts, including football matches. MEPs also want to be able to transfer audiovisual content abroad. This refers to situations where the consumer purchases access to given content, e.g. in Poland, and can also use it abroad. MEPs also want to improve online registration and payment methods, because – as they claim – in their current form, they undermine the purpose of the “shop as if you were there” regulations.
– When shopping online, consumers must be able to take advantage of the best offers and pay by bank card like locals. We are also against price discrimination and want to make it easier for you to pick up your goods yourself or arrange delivery abroad. It’s time to meet citizens’ requirements and facilitate their access to films, series and sports events in their native language – said on Wednesday the current rapporteur on the topic in the EP, PiS MEP Beata Mazurek, who took over the portfolio from Róża Thun.
EU consumer organizations also appealed to the Commission for new regulations. – In 2023 and with the EU single market in place, it is inexplicable that you still cannot watch a film, TV show or sporting event from another country due to geoblocking. Contrary to what critics say, removing geoblocking would benefit, not harm, Europe’s cultural diversity. This would enable consumers to watch films and TV programs from across the EU’s cultural landscape in the most convenient – and legal – way, noted Ursula Pachl from the consumer organization BEUC in an interview with DW.
Eurobarometer research shows that one in ten Europeans and one in five young people tried to access content in another Member State and were blocked. One in three EU residents declare that they would be happy to take advantage of such access. The EC could introduce the first changes as early as 2025 when revising the current regulations.
Source: Gazeta
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