The European and International Booksellers’ Federation (EIBF) welcomes and celebrates yesterday’s positive vote and approval of several reports on the upcoming Digital Services Act (DSA) at the European Parliament’s plenary session.
Over the last months, we have closely monitored the reports on the DSA across several parliamentary committees covering different aspects of the file. In doing so, we have also held conversations and exchanged views with Members of European Parliament (MEPs) on the legislative file’s scope, content and its crucial relevance for the bookselling sector.
Of particular relevance is MEP Alex Agius Saliba’s report from the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) committee, which calls for stricter rules and obligations for large online platforms with a gatekeeper role, increasing interoperability and stricter measures to prevent the sale of illegal and counterfeit goods on online marketplaces, among other important issues that concern booksellers.
These are priorities that we, at EIBF, have been vocal about and have advocated for many years. Yesterday’s adoption marks a stepping stone and positive step in the right direction to ensure further support for European SMEs and holding large corporations accountable in the EU. We consider this file as major cornerstone of the European Commission’s priority to make a “Europe fit for the digital age”, as well as a unique opportunity to level the digital playing field.
We now await 2 December 2020 as a key date for the European Commission’s announcement of the Digital Services Act and the Digital Market Act, a parallel legislative package that will specifically target large digital gatekeepers to be defined by objective criteria, setting out a clear list of ‘do’s and don’ts’ in full compliance with international rules, as well as providing for a market investigation framework to address digital markets that may be prone to market failure and or to new gatekeepers arising.
Following the announcement at the end of this year, we will continue to monitor the developments of the package in the negotiations between the European Parliament and the European Council throughout 2021.