Brussels yesterday formally opened an anti-trust inquiry into Europe’s online shopping marketplace amid concerns about how Web sites such as Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc use their influence.
The competition probe is the aggressive centerpiece of a new digital market strategy unveiled by European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip aimed at dragging the 28-state bloc into the 21st century.
It will focus on areas such as electronics, clothing, shoes and digital content for which e-commerce is most used for, the commission said.
Ansip said the strategy would “prepare Europe to reap the benefits of a digital future” and “give people and companies the online freedoms to profit fully from Europe’s huge internal market.”
The inquiry, originally trailed by EU Competition Commissioner Margarethe Vestager in March, is expected to deliver a preliminary report by the middle of next year and a final report by the end of March 2017.
Internet giants Amazon, Apple Inc and Google have been hit by previous EU investigations targeting individual companies, which have exposed deep divisions between Washington and Brussels on trade regulation.
Unlike those, yesterday’s probe deals with the entire e-commerce sector in Europe and whether “competition may be distorted within the internal market.”
It will not be able to impose fines except where firms or industry groups provide incorrect or misleading information asked for by the EU.
However, it could lead to later cases against specific firms, the commission said.
Vestager, a former deputy prime minister of Denmark, has taken on a series of anti-trust initiatives since starting the job in November last year.
She cited the fact that she could not watch her favorite Danish channels on her tablet in Brussels and gave the example of a French tourist who can buy Italian shoes in Rome, but has to go through a French Web site to buy them from home.
More broadly, the EU’s digital strategy unveiled yesterday aims to break down cross-border barriers such as “geoblocking.”
Geoblocking prevents online consumers seeking cheaper prices abroad for services such as car rental or travel, or stops them using streaming services such as Netflix and BBC iPlayer when they travel.
The EU recognized that some Web sites employ geoblocking for the legitimate reasons of protecting copyright and ensuring that access to information is restricted only to those who have paid for it.
However, it said the tactic also blocks access for some legitimate users, such as people who are blocked simply because they are traveling in another geographic location.
The strategy also deals with issues such as copyright, Internet piracy and illegal content, and the use of personal data.
The EU has talked up the economic benefits of a proper digital single market across all 28 countries, especially at a time when the eurozone is still struggling for major growth.
It says it could contribute 415 billion euros (US$466 billion) a year and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
At the moment, only 15 percent of consumers shop from another EU country and only 7 percent of small businesses sell across borders.
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