The Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (Fesi) supports the conclusion of a sector inquiry conducted in the last two years by the European Commission into online retailing, which decided not to change the current practices of selective distribution – allowing sports brands to manage their distribution and to pick their retail partners, under strict criteria.
The final report was published earlier this month, largely confirming the findings of a preliminary report issued last September. The inquiry analyzed about 8,000 distribution and licensing contracts, some of them including sales restrictions, and it involved nearly 1,900 companies taking part in online sales of consumer goods and digital content.
The Commission's report appears not to question the principles set out in the Vertical Restraints Block Exemption Regulation issued in 2010. This regulation expires in May 2022, and the Commission says there is no reason to evaluate it earlier.
The sector inquiry further advocates dialogue with national competition authorities, to ensure consistent interpretation of the rules. But at the same time, the report acknowledges that further scrutiny may be required in individual cases regarding the implementation of certain vertical restraints that could raise competition concerns. This implies that the regulations are still subject to varying interpretations by the national authorities, thus failing to provide certainty on a few issues.
As previously reported, some stakeholders have been eager to clarify issues around the ban of online marketplaces and price comparison engines. At least some of the uncertainty could be lifted around the case of Coty Germany, before the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The Commission is apparently taking the view that mere marketplace bans don't constitute hardcore restrictions, but it remains to be seen if the ECJ's verdict will go in the same direction.
Fesi formed a digital working group last year to take part in European discussions about the framework of online retailing. The Commission has turned this into a priority as part of its Digital Single Market strategy, and it published a mid-term review of this initiative earlier this month.
As part of this assessment, the Commission said it would make a legislative proposal by the end of 2017 to address the issues of potential unfair contractual clauses and trading practices in online platform-to-business relationships. Fesi is particularly interested in establishing more transparent pricing policies and removing unfair terms and conditions. The European Parliament is holding a vote on this topic today.
