European Union News - Internal Market

Since 20 of July, new EU rules on toy safety entered into force. With the new Toys Directive all actors involved in the production, selling and control of toys on the EU market will get more responsibilities to better protect children. The new directive addresses a wide range of issues to ensure that toys do not present any health hazards or risk of injury.

A special promotion programme for fruit and vegetables has been adopted by the Commission to address the difficulties faced by this sector following the E.coli crisis. The objetive is to promote European fresh products on the internal market and in third countries.

The proposal presented by the European Commission intends to change the behaviour of the 8,000 banks that operate in Europe. Its main goal is to strengthen the resilience of the EU banking sector while ensuring that banks continue to finance economic activity and growth. The proposal is based in three concrete objectives.

The European Commission has sent requests for information under EU infringement procedure to twenty EU Member States which have not yet notified measures to implement in full new EU telecoms rules into national law. If they fail to reply in two months, the Commission can send the Member States concerned a formal request to implement the legislation, and ultimately refer them to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The European Commission published a Recommendation in which considers that access to a basic payment account will promote financial and social inclusion for consumers across Europe. According to the Commission, the access to a bank account has become a pre-condition for participating fully in the economic and social life of a modern society.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held on 14 July a debate on the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020 with the European Commission. Among the conclusions drawn from the debate, EESC members consider that the EU should aim to drastically reduce administrative burden.

According to the European Economic and Social Committee members, the new financial products and a fragmented market have created a confusing situation for consumers. Therefore, the EESC wants to create a new framework whereby consumers and borrowers are aware of which products they engage in and their rights and remain fully protected, especially within the EU mortgage market.

According to the Commission's annual report on EU Customs enforcement of intellectual property rights published, the number of shipments stopped by customs were from 43,500 in 2009 to almost 80,000 in 2010. Moreover, the report also indicates the value of the goods detained which is estimated at over €1 billion. China continued to be the main source of IPR infringing products.

The European Commission published a Green Paper as the basis for a debate on whether and how the regulatory framework needs to be adapted to allow European audiovisual industry to develop new business models, creators to find new distribution channels and European consumers to have better access to content throughout Europe.

The Court of Justice of the European Union mentions certain matters concerning the liability of the operator of an online marketplace for trade mark infringements committed by users. L’Oréal complains that eBay is involved in trade mark infringements committed by users of its website. Furthermore, L’Oréal is of the view that eBay’s efforts to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods on its website are inadequate.

The majority of approved aid was aimed at promoting objectives of common European interest, such as research, development and innovation, regional cohesion or environment protection. In addition, in 2010 saw a near-record amount of fines imposed on companies for operating price-fixing and market-sharing cartels.