Slow progress on distance selling

Date: 18/12/1997

By Peter Chapman

THE EU's distance selling industry is resigned to long delays before European Commission plans for a key committee to ponder barriers to cross-border trade come to fruition.

Commission sources say the institution will confirm its intention to go ahead with the idea when it publishes a follow-up to its 1996 Green Paper on commercial communications in the spring.

But Alastair Tempest, director-general of the Federation of European Direct Marketing (FEDMA), believes the Commission is unlikely to approve moves to launch the committee while it continues to drag its feet over decisions to take court action against a number of member states in a series of cases concerning alleged breaches of EU single market rules.

"If the Commission does not proceed with the court cases, then it would probably feel unsure about going ahead with any other action at the moment," he said.

The Commission as a whole has come under attack for continually failing to take action against member states for breaches of the single market, despite calls from Internal Market Commissioner Mario Monti and his officials for it to do so.

High-profile cases where decisions have been delayed until January include France's Loi Evin which restricts the televising of sports events which feature alcohol advertising, and a German law which bans certain marketing techniques such as 'three for the price of two' discount offers.

"Clearly, they would be sending the wrong message to announce the committee at the same time as putting off the court action. It would be hypocritical," said Tempest.

Under the committee plan, which was a key part of last year's Green Paper, a group of experts from across the Union and the Commission would scrutinise member state laws for compliance with the Union's single market.

Rules that fall foul of the EU treaty would only be permissible if they were seen to be in the 'public good' and 'proportional' to their objectives.