COMMISSION’S E-COMMERCE SECTOR INQUIRY ABOUT GEO-BLOCKING

The European and International Booksellers Federation has noted with satisfaction the conclusions of the Commission’s inquiry in the e-commerce sector about geo-blocking.

Dr. Kyra Dreher, Managing Director Retail Booksellers Committee, Boersenverein des Deutschen Buchhandelsand and EIBF co-President commented: “I strongly appreciate that the Commission understands that geo-blocking is based on business decisions from companies who do not want to sell abroad and that the Commission reckons that such behaviour by a non-dominant company falls outside the scope of EU competition law. The e-book market is an uncertain market with extremely low profitability and selling across borders is just not profitable for the vast majority of e-booksellers, when the potential market is in the region of 1% of European citizens who want to buy e-books across borders, according to a recent Eurobarometer.

Commented Tim Godfray, Chief Executive of The Booksellers Association of the UK & Ireland: “I am delighted that the Commission acknowledges that in some cases agreements between suppliers and distributors may restrict competition between retailers. Reduced competition means reduced choice for European consumers. Healthy competition between e-book distributors guarantees a robust, diverse retail landscape, which is what EIBF has always advocated for. It is not good for consumers when there is little room for challengers on the e-book market because single companies abuse a dominant market position to impose unfair business conditions on providers. Conversely, consumers and societies benefit from a rich and varied e-book offer when retailers are operating on a level playing field and there is healthy competition among them”.