Daniel Dalton (ECR). – Mr President, I would like to thank the rapporteur, who has done a good job here. E—commerce is one of our fastest growing industries. Consumers no longer recognise borders and boundaries when shopping. The internet gives them the choice to look for anything, anywhere. That is a revolution in choice. But sadly, the law and many companies have yet to catch up with shoppers. That is why this regulation is important: breaking down artificial barriers and ending unfair price discrimination.

Now I am sad that I cannot yet pay to watch cricket coverage and other audiovisual stuff here in Belgium, but that will come in the future. Because with more competition, we get lower prices and better service: everyone wins. We have come a long way from the Commission’s original proposal, which needed some work, but no company now has to sell where it cannot deliver. But everything will see more transparency and cheaper pricing. This is a digital revolution in action.

So I commend this report as an action of good policy – but a warning: do not cut the EU off from the rest of the world. This should be a template for global e—commerce. We should see customs de minimis thresholds brought in line with offline thresholds. E—commerce and consumers should not be punished just for shopping online.

(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question under Rule 162(8))