Segnalazione da Eurocommerce - draft opinion on the retail market monitoring report.

EuroCommerce warmly welcomes the outcome of the vote today in the European Parliament Internal market and Consumer (IMCO) Committee on Anna Maria Corazza Bildt’s draft opinion on the retail market monitoring report.

“This report finally recognises the importance of the contribution made by commerce to growth, employment, the fight against inflation in Europe and more globally to achieve the goals of the EU 2020 strategy” said Xavier Durieu, EuroCommerce Secretary General.

EuroCommerce particularly supports the emphasis placed on proper enforcement of legislation within the Single Market, the promotion of self regulation instead of systematic top down legislation, and the further development of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

We welcome the proposal for a holistic approach to the retail sector and its relations with other players in the supply chain. In particular, we would like to thank the Committee for its support to multi stakeholder dialogues and the on-going work in the Commission platform on B2B contractual relations.

We are however concerned about amendments that risk challenging the proper implementation of the services directive at the local level. We also regret a remaining misperception on the impact of private labels / own brands whose benefits have been largely recognised in a study recently conducted for the European Commission.

Finally, EuroCommerce looks forward to working with the Parliament’s IMCO committee and the European Commission in defining and delivering the European Action Plan for Retail. “This will be key in alleviating remaining barriers and obstacles to the further development of commerce in Europe” concluded Xavier Durieu.