El Presidente. − El siguiente punto es el debate sobre la pregunta oral al Consejo sobre empresas fraudulentas dedicadas a la elaboración de directorios (por ejemplo "European City Guides"), de Arlene McCarthy, en nombre de la Comisión de Mercado Interior y Protección del Consumidor (O-0078/2008 - B6-0152/2008).
Arlene McCarthy, author. − Mr President, the clear objective of this oral question is to get action and redress for the thousands of small businesses across the EU which are being defrauded daily out of millions of euros by sham European ‘directory companies’. This Parliament has received hundreds of petitions and a mass of correspondence to our constituency offices from businesses who have fallen victim to these prolific scams against small businesses.
We must, of course, recognise that these scams have been in existence for over 40 years, according to the legitimate directory publishers represented by the EADP. But this is without doubt a scam which requires a European response. As an example, the structure of the Maiwolf holding company, which owns the European City Guide and other such companies, is a complex web of European scam companies registered, operating and domiciled in several Member States of the EU and in the EEA countries Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Despite legal action and fines issued by courts in several Member States, it continues to operate, making a mockery of EU cooperation on law enforcement. Indeed it took seven years through the courts for the company to be shut down in Barcelona, only for it to immediately restart trading in Valencia. Maiwolf Holding is a hub of a web of companies operating scams not just at EU level but at global level and continuing – I am afraid – to escape the long arm of the law.
By responding to the European City Guide, businesses were led to believe that they were simply responding to an information request or updating or correcting their data. They were led to believe it was a free service, and then suddenly they found themselves slapped with an invoice for thousands of euros which, if mentioned at all, had only appeared in very fine print in a confusing and misleading manner. The same Maiwolf holding company apparently also owns the debt collection companies which then proceed to harass, bully and threaten businesses to pay up. A website, ‘Stop the European City Guide’, that campaigns against the City Guide fraud, was also subject to legal threats and their ISP had to shut them down, although I am pleased to say that they are currently up and running again.
Many of the activities of this fraudulent company are clearly in breach of the Misleading Advertising Directive of 1984. We need better and more coordinated enforcement to close the loopholes or gaps which are exploited by such companies. I can inform the presidency that my committee will review the implementation and transposition of the Misleading Advertising Directive and, of course, the new Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. We are particularly interested in the example of Austria’s transposition of the Misleading Advertising Directive whereby businesses cannot be bound by a contract unless they have clearly and explicitly signed up to its terms and conditions. This is a model, Presidency, which I hope you will follow in discussions with the other Member States.
Small businesses, of course, are not helped by the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive as it does not cover business-to-business transactions – even for small businesses. Member States must make better use of the cross-border enforcement network to put these cowboy businesses out of business and out of operation once and for all. I certainly share with my colleagues here the sense of frustration of the many small businesses who for years, not months, have continued to suffer harassment and financial loss.
If we believe, as we say we do, that small businesses are the backbone of the EU economy, then it is time to stand up for them, to defend their rights and to defend them against these fraudulent practices. I certainly welcome Commissioner Kuneva’s interest and her commitment to monitoring their activities, but monitoring alone does not get results and does not actively target these companies. It is unacceptable, I believe, that the business complaints have fallen on apparently deaf ears and that the sole trader behind the City Guide has been allowed to continue to peddle his fraudulent practices without facing the full force of European law. So I am calling today on the Member States to urgently take action, to recognise the serious and damaging consequences of allowing this fraudster to continue to rip off our businesses. I want the Member States, and indeed the presidency, today during our debate, to commit to taking action, not just to debate the issues we have known about for many years.
So I urge the presidency to answer these questions and to work together with us to find a resolution for the businesses who continue to suffer from this fraud.
Janez Lenarčič, Predsedujoči Svetu. − Rad bi se zahvalil spoštovani poslanki McCarthy za njeno vprašanje in tudi Odboru za notranji trg in varstvo potrošnikov. Na vprašanje bom skušal odgovoriti po sklopih, kot jih je zastavila cenjena gospa poslanka.
Dovolite mi, da vas glede prvega podvprašanja, to je, kaj so države članice storile za zaprtje sleparskih podjetij z imeniškimi storitvami, obvestim, da Svet doslej še ni prejel nikakršnega predloga za reševanje te problematike s strani držav članic. Prav tako ni bil obveščen o sprejetju kakršnihkoli ukrepov držav članic za zaprtje takšnih podjetij, niti o nameri glede izmenjave podatkov o podjetjih med njihovimi pristojnimi organi.
Na drugo vprašanje, o ukrepih sprejetih za odpravo vrzeli pri prenosu direktive o zavajajočem oglaševanju, moram odgovoriti, da je ta direktiva oziroma njeno izvajanje v pristojnosti Evropske komisije. Tako določa člen 211 Pogodbe o ustanovitvi Evropske skupnosti, zato menim, da bi moral Evropski parlament to vprašanje nasloviti na Komisijo.
V zvezi s tema dvema vprašanjema, s prvim in drugim vprašanjem, naj še dodam, da Svet doslej ni bil obveščen o kakršnihkoli ukrepih, s katerimi bi države članice opozarjale poslovno skupnost na nevarnost, ki jo predstavljajo sleparska podjetja z imeniškimi storitvami.
Glede vprašanja o razširitvi obsega direktive o nepoštenih poslovnih praksah, pa pritrdim gospe poslanki McCarthy, da ta direktiva ne zajema primerov, ki jih opisuje Odbor za notranji trg in varstvo potrošnikov, ne zajema torej primerov goljufive poslovne prakse, katerih tarča so mala in srednje velika podjetja.
Razlog za to je, da je področje uporabe omenjene direktive omejeno na poslovne prakse podjetij v razmerju do potrošnikov, se pravi "business-to-consumer relations". V zvezi z morebitno razširitvijo te direktive na medpodjetniško sodelovanje ("business to business") lahko rečem zgolj to, da se bo Svet opredelil do te problematike, ko in če mu bo predložen ustrezen zakonodajni predlog.
Lahko pa spomnim, da je politična razprava o tem, ali naj omenjena direktiva vključuje tudi poslovne prakse med podjetji, potekala že v času sprejemanja omenjene direktive v Svetu. Naj spomnim, da je takrat, poleg Komisije, tudi večina držav članic nasprotovala temu, da bi direktiva vključevala nepoštene poslovne prakse, ki potrošnikom ne škodujejo.
Ne glede na vse omenjeno pa želim posebej poudariti, da podjetja, vključno mala in srednja podjetja, niso ostala brez varstva pred takšnim početjem. Varstvo jim je namreč zagotovljeno v direktivi o zavajajočem in primerjalnem oglaševanju.
Naj končam z naslednjim. V imenu predsedstva se zelo strinjam z mnenjem odbora, da je nepošteno in goljufivo poslovanje na kateremkoli gospodarskem področju nesprejemljivo. In strinjamo se tudi, da je proti takšnemu ravnanju treba ukrepati.
Države članice nepoštene poslovne prakse obravnavajo v skladu s svojo zakonodajo. Tudi primer European City Guide, ki je bil omenjen v vašem vprašanju, je bil vsaj v eni državi članici obravnavan na sodišču.
Naj se sedaj zahvalim še enkrat za postavljeno vprašanje in vsekakor bom z zanimanjem prisluhnil razpravi.
Simon Busuttil, f’isem il-grupp PPE-DE. – Sur President, meta wieħed jiftaħ dan id-direttorju - għaliex dan id-direttorju li ġie ippubblikat huwa kbir u oħxon - isib mijiet ta’ paġni, b'eluf kbar ta’ kumpaniji, ħafna drabi negozji żgħar illi spiċċaw f’dan id-direttorju għaliex ġew ingannati. Ma xtaqux jidħlu fih, iżda ddaħħlu fih mingħajr ma xtaqu. Il-Kumitat għall-Petizzjonijiet ta' dan il-Parlament għandu madwar 400 petizzjoni quddiemu li huma lmenti minn negozji żgħar illi nqabdu f’din in-nassa. Naħseb li hemm tliet elementi f'din l-affari. L-ewwelnett, in-negozji ż-żgħar involuti huma vittmi ta’ ingann. It-tieni, hemm element crossborder, transnazzjonali, ta’ din il-ħaġa u, għalhekk, għandha tinteressa lilna fl-Ewropa, fil-Parlament Ewropew, fil-Kunsill u fil-Kummissjoni. It-tielet, kumpaniji bħall-European City Guide qedgħin japprofittaw ruħhom min-nuqqasijiet li hemm fil-leġiżlazzjoni.
X’qed jagħmel il-Parlament Ewropew, apparti dak li qed jagħmel il-Kumitat IMCO, kif qaltilna s-Sinjura McCarthy? Il-Kumitat għall-Petizzjonijiet se jagħmel rapport dwar din il-kwistjoni. Jiena se nkun ir-rapporteur li se nikteb dan ir-rapport li se jagħmel erba’ affarijiet. L-ewwelnett, jixtieq ikabbar l-għarfien – l-awareness - dwar din il-problema, li hija waħda kbira. It-tieni, se jkompli jħeġġeġ iktar lill-Kunsill u lill-Kummissjoni, b’mod partikulari, biex jieħdu azzjoni ċara, għaliex jekk illum ma jistgħux jieħdu azzjoni, iridu jkunu f’pożizzjoni illi jieħdu azzjoni. It-tielet, irid jara wkoll jekk hemmx nuqqasijiet leġiżlattivi u dan hu l-irwol tal-Kumitat IMCO. Fl-aħħar irid jagħti wkoll pariri siewja lil dawn il-vittmi. Il-Kumitat għall-Petizzjonijiet se jagħmel konsultazzjoni, se jiltaqa’ mal-vittmi, se jiltaqa’ ma’ l-imsieħba soċjali, se jiltaqa’ wkoll mal-Kummissjoni qabel jadotta dan ir-rapport illi mistenni li jiġi adottat sa l-aħħar ta’ din is-sena.
Genowefa Grabowska, w imieniu grupy PSE. – Panie Przewodniczący! Działalność firm dopuszczających się nieuczciwych praktyk handlowych i marketingowych jest godna tylko potępienia. Musimy przecież chronić prawa konsumentów przed takimi pseudo-rynkowymi działaniami oraz wspierać ich w walce z firmami, które w obecnych europejskich realiach czują się zupełnie bezkarne. Przecież tysiące firm w całej Europie dają się nabrać na rzekomo bezpłatną reklamę w katalogach biznesowych, za którą w rzeczywistości przychodzi im płacić od kilkuset do kilku tysięcy euro. Wydawcy tych bezwartościowych katalogów - z biznesowego i także reklamowego punktu widzenia - celują jednak nie tylko w konkretne branże takie jak agencje turystyczne, w hotelarze, lekarze, restauratorzy czy nawet w świat nauki, ale także zwracają się niestety do urzędów i instytucji państwowych. Dlatego obywatele Unii Europejskiej pytają, jak to się dzieje, że pomysłodawcy tych procederów, zidentyfikowani przecież z imienia i nazwiska jako właściciele spółek wydających te katalogi, mogli zbić majątek stosując oszukańcze i nieuczciwe praktyki wykorzystując obawę drobnych europejskich przedsiębiorców przed firmami i sądami windykacyjnymi.
Dlatego zwracam się jednak do prezydencji słoweńskiej i bardziej do prezydencji niż do Komisji, aby rozpoczęła koordynację działań państw członkowskich, głównie w zakresie wymiany informacji i wzajemnego ostrzegania się przed tego typu oszukańczymi praktykami, aby przekazywała informacje o właścicielach i zarządach tych spółek, a także żeby zaproponowała wprowadzenie ostrzejszych sankcji karnych za tego typu działalność. Trwanie obecnej sytuacji podważa zaufanie podmiotów gospodarczych oraz obywateli Unii Europejskiej do idei europejskiego wspólnego rynku, a także zaciera niestety różnice między rzetelnym biznesem, a działalnością niemal quasi mafijną.
Diana Wallis, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Mr President, many thanks to Mrs McCarthy and the Internal Market Committee for presenting this question. I could wish that we had had a rather more robust answer from the Council, I have to say.
The situation is absolutely unacceptable and I am going to start by making a confession. In the early 1980s, I was a lawyer in the UK, but I founded a practice with a lawyer in Germany. We started getting these demands that we had advertised our practice in a European City Guide and, even as a lawyers, we felt harassed and frightened. So if lawyers feel frightened by these people, I am sure ordinary small SMEs must.
But the oddity of this is that EU law ought to be able to provide an answer and it is seemingly failing to do so, even after 20, 30 years that this has been going on. Indeed, if you read some of the letters from these people, they are even quoting EU law back at people to harass them even further as victims. And what do we get from the Council? I am sorry, it is not good enough: well, we might look at misleading advertising and we will think about it. Thirty years on we really need something more.
What are people meant to do? We need a thoroughgoing debate about whether we should redefine who and what is a consumer. We tried to raise it during the discussions on contract law. We need to go further and deeper if we are going to deal with this problem.
Lastly, if the Member States are too timid or too frightened to deal with this, let me make another suggestion that perhaps is a little contentious here. If the Commission gives us a substantial system of collective redress, let us call it class actions, then maybe citizens will be able to take action themselves if nobody else will do it for them. Now there is a thought.
Mairead McGuinness (PPE-DE). – Mr President, four years later we are at last having a debate on the European City Guides. I could not carry down the files of complaints I have, as other colleagues have outlined. Europe gets beaten about because it does not connect with its citizens and here we have a golden opportunity – and I direct this to the Council – to connect with people who have a real problem and who are coming to their MEPs for a solution.
It is not just businesses that are affected. I have heard from school secretaries who signed this in error and are terrified and who have paid over money. The tragedy with European City Guides is that it works because people are threatened and terrified. Whether you pay or not, they continue to harass and abuse people. But it is a European problem and therefore requires a European solution. I suppose I am celebrating slightly that we are having this debate and that my colleague, Simon Busuttil, is going to have a report and prepare information, but I think the Council needs to be a little more proactive on this, and indeed the Commission likewise.
The question is very specific and it raises five key issues that need to be addressed. In my view, this problem is enormous but we need to have it quantified. Exchanging information is a great idea but it could cause frustration if we do not have action as a result. We must close loopholes. For example, in Ireland, European law is being quoted to those who have signed up to European City Guides. They are being told that they will be taken to court in another Member State and fined and penalised. They are getting phone calls with huge amounts of harassment to themselves and their co-workers. This is not acceptable. We definitely need to redefine what a consumer is because, as I said earlier, this is not just about business. But I repeat the point. We have a golden opportunity here to show people all over Europe that we are active on issues that are hitting them directly. Let us seize the moment and let us not waste it today with just words and no action.
Marian Harkin (ALDE). – Mr President, the power of many of these fraudulent directory companies is that they are in another Member State, so they seem untouchable unless in some way the EU intervenes. They also instil fear in people, many of them very small businesses without any legal help or advice and many, after being harassed for years, eventually give up and pay the money.
Like many of the other speakers, my office has been inundated with complaints, but usually from sole traders: plumbers, dentists, doctors, people who have been targeted by European City Guide. These people feel as if they are on their own, that they have just made a bad decision, that they got caught out and in some way they almost blame themselves.
I find it unbelievable when I hear that the majority of Member States do not want any extension of the Directive to do something about the relations between companies. I just wonder, is it because the companies that are being targeted are small businesses, that it is not the big corporations that are being affected? I believe citizens need more and better from the Council and the Commission than they are getting at present. I think the current situation is not good enough and I call on the Council to do something about it immediately.
Malcolm Harbour (PPE-DE). – Mr President, I want to get straight to the point. Let me address this to the Slovenian Presidency; I think they have been great in their presidency. Minister Lenarčič, just let me give you four things that I would like you to bring up at your next meeting of the Competitiveness Ministers.
The first thing, is for you to ask the Commission to take the SOLVIT mechanism – which is supposed to deal with every single internal market complaint, not just market-related ones – and put this firmly on the agenda. Get them to circulate the information that is already available on independent websites – and we should be ashamed of the fact that it is actually the people affected by this who have taken this up on their own – there is a lot of comprehensive information, and make that part of their remit. That could happen straight away. So that is your first task.
The second task is that you should be saying to all your colleagues that their business information services (because they have services that reach out to SMEs) should also be circulating that information to them in their own languages and you should be putting just a modest amount of your budget behind to actually explain to businesses what is going on.
Thirdly, give those to your law enforcement authorities. And, also say to the Commission and to the people who are running your consumer protection cooperation: put this on your agenda. It will not take very much to do. The information is there. It is not a difficult thing to do. So that is three things you should do.
And the fourth thing you could do as well is to say to your colleagues this: these practices, if practised on individual consumers are absolutely illegal under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Everybody knows that is the case. And the companies affected are essentially taking on the role of private consumers. But, in individual Member States, in your process of implementing that (and I have to say by the way the Member States have not done very well in implementing it, and even my own Member State is actually well behind), you could easily include a clause specifically including directories and small businesses in your implementation. It would not take much to do.
So there are four specific actions there. So I look to you, Minister, and we will look at the agenda, and we expect it to be on the next agenda of the Competitiveness Council. How can we go round saying to small businesses, ‘participate in the internal market’, if we cannot even give them the simplest of safeguards on a simple act like this? It is a disgraceful neglect by all of us of our duties in the single market.
Richard Corbett (PSE). – Mr President, the European City Guide and the similar guides are essentially a bunch of crooks, but our legislation has not been good enough to enable us to deal with them. This question should equally have been asked of the Commission in terms of initiating a new legislative proposal to tighten up the relevant legislation so that we can deal with them, but pending that my advice to any small business faced with demands from European City Guide and similar guides is simple: do not pay; ignore them; ignore the pressure.
An organisation has been set up called ‘Stop the European City Guide’, an association of victims of this guide. Their website had to be removed because of pressure and legal threats against their internet service provider to make them shut down their website. I now therefore host their website on my website so that they can continue to disseminate information as to how businesses can protect themselves. We need firm action on this. We need it soon.
Marcin Libicki (UEN). – Panie Przewodniczący! Gratuluję pani poseł McCarthy doskonale przygotowanego pytania ustnego w sprawie nieuczciwych praktyk firm ogłoszeniowych na podstawie city guide. Komisja Petycji, której jestem przewodniczącym wyznaczyła posła Busuttila do przygotowania sprawozdania w tej sprawie. Otrzymaliśmy ogromną ilość petycji właśnie skarżących się na te praktyki. Przedstawiciel Komisji powiedział, że Komisja nie otrzymała takich skarg, aby mogła rozpocząć dochodzenie w tej sprawie, ale jak sądzę ta dzisiejsza debata, a także debata która odbędzie się na podstawie sprawozdania posła Busuttila będzie wystarczająca przyczyną żeby Komisja się tą sprawą zajęła, bo są to praktyki w ogromnym stopniu nieuczciwe i nękające małe firmy i zwykłych ludzi, czyli tych którzy nie mają na swoje usługi armii prawników, która mogłaby ich wybronić.
Bardzo proszę Komisję o zajęcie się tą sprawą.
Brian Crowley (UEN). – Mr President, I have dealt with 19 cases of people who have been fraudulently exposed to expenditure and to debt actions because of European City Guides. Of those 19, 17 were small businesses that employed three people or less. And of those 17, six of them were elderly people over the age of 60 who were afraid of seeing a solicitor’s letter coming in the door.
The reality was that what actually happened here was a misrepresentation under the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act or the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, as Mr Harbour was talking about. That in itself is a fraud because, if you agree to do something, you expect to get something in return that should be offered in consideration. What actually happened was a misrepresentation as regards the service that was being provided. I think, as some of my colleagues have said, this is probably a matter best dealt with at Commission level. However, it would be right that the Competitive Council and each Minister be made aware of it, and would be empowered to introduce legislation at a national level which may be quicker to do than to actually try and bring forward a revised European directive on this matter.
Arlene McCarthy (PSE). – Mr President, I just want to echo my colleagues. We have to stop passing the buck on this issue. We must stop allowing these companies to ‘catch me if you can’. That is the game they are playing with this. I am not leaving the plenary, Minister, without some commitment to action.
Mr Harbour gave you some ideas, but what I want you to do is to raise specific things that I did actually raise in my intervention at the beginning. I want you to raise at the Council working group the Austrian model where, under the Misleading Advertising Directive, they already ban these practices. Not all Member States do it. You could ask other Member States to follow suit, take the Austrian model and ban these practices by introducing amendments in their national legislation.
I also want you to ask the Council to agree that we have cross-border enforcement networks for consumers. I want you to instruct them to accept, investigate and act on the directory companies in the context of the cross-border enforcement network. That, I believe, will enable us to have some action across the border and to stop these people escaping the long arm of the law. So, please, if I could have that from you, I think we can all go away somewhat happier.
Janez Lenarčič, predsedujoči Svetu. − Hvala lepa gospod predsednik za besedo. Hvala tudi vsem poslankam in poslancem, ki so sodelovali v tej razpravi.
Naj najprej razčistimo eno stvar. Nihče v Svetu, ne predsedstvo ne katerakoli država članica, ni za to, da se nadaljujejo ali sploh pojavljajo goljufije na skupnem trgu, ki ga predstavlja Evropska unija. Nasprotno, in ravno v tem smislu je ta razprava dobrodošla in v imenu predsedstva jo pozdravljam.
Drugič, predsedstvo je zelo dobro slišalo pozive, soglasne pozive k večji aktivnosti in takojšnji akciji. Lahko se zanesete, da bomo te pozive prenesli našim partnerjem v Svetu.
Tretjič, veseli me, da se je Odbor za peticije odločil pripraviti posebno poročilo in z veseljem pričakujemo to poročilo s strani gospoda poslanca Busuttila. To bo dodatni, to bo lahko dalo dodatni zagon k oblikovanju ustrezne akcije na evropski ravni.
Vendarle, naj kljub vsemu poudarim nekaj stvari. Omenili ste, spoštovana poslanka McCarthy, avstrijski zgled. Prav gotovo so dobri zgledi za to, da jih ostali posnemajo. In mislim da, upam tudi, da bo ta razprava k temu prispevala. Ampak poudarjam vendarle dejstvo, da je za izvajanje direktiv pristojna Komisija.
Omenili smo že, in tudi v svojem vprašanju ste menili, da se to vprašanje nanaša na dve direktivi. Za eno je jasno, za direktivo o nepoštenih poslovnih praksah je jasno, da ne pokriva tega segmenta. Lahko se najde rešitve, bodisi v redefiniciji pojma potrošnik bodisi v razširitvi obsega uporabe direktive. To so vse opcije, ki, verjamem, bodo na mizi, ko se bo odločalo o teh zadevah.
Zavedamo se, da ta direktiva, o nepoštenih poslovnih praksah, ni stara. Začela se je uporabljati šele decembra in mislim, da bo kmalu potrebno presoditi, kako se uporablja.
Drugič, kar se tiče direktive o zavajajočem oglaševanju, naj ponovno poudarim, da ta direktiva pokriva to področje. Prav gotovo gre pri tovrstnih sleparijah, pri tovrstnih goljufijah, za zavajujoče oglaševanje, tako da določena pravna sredstva so na razpolago, so že na razpolago.
Ne glede na to, naj končam s ponovitvijo tega, da sem zelo pozorno poslušal razpravo in da bo predsedstvo z razpoloženjem v tem zboru seznanilo člane Sveta.
El Presidente. − Con la intervención del Consejo queda cerrado este debate.
Declaraciones por escrito (artículo 142 del Reglamento)
James Nicholson (PPE-DE), in writing. – The 'European Cities Guide' and similar outfits are fraudulent operations which specifically target SMEs. They urge companies to sign up to directory services which are presented as being free of charge.
However, due to dubious and complex 'fine print', theses schemes then proceed to harass people for money in an extremely threatening and malicious manner. Ironically, these fraudulent companies quote EU law in order to intimidate their targets further.
Of course, these scams represent no value whatsoever to the consumer or businesses. In fact, they flout numerous examples of EU legislation, such as the 1984 Directive on Misleading Advertising. This problem is evident in countries throughout the EU and therefore requires urgent action.
The solution lies in EU level cooperation, namely in the form of some tough legislation. We must ensure that any EU directive tackling this issue contains no loopholes and that it is satisfactorily implemented in all member states.
I call on the Council and Commission to assist the work of Parliament and take action which reflects the urgency of this situation. If we are encouraging our SMEs to compete within the single market, we must at least be able to guarantee their protection against these appalling scams.