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Despite the ban, geo-blocking is still present in the EU

by AI | 03.Jun 2024 | Europe in brief AI

Despite the ban, there are still barriers preventing consumers from accessing certain products and services in the single market.

ILLUSTRATION - A woman uses an app on her smartphone to initiate a SEPA transfer in online banking (staged scene). Real-time transfers are to become the standard in Europe according to the will of the EU Commission. (from dpa "EU Commission: Real-time transfers should become standard") Photo: Monika Skolimowska/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa

ZAGREB – “Unjustified” geoblocking is prohibited in the European Union as a violation of the single market, but certain barriers still exist, which is why the European Parliament has called for their removal.

Geoblocking (geographical blocking) is a practice that prevents consumers on the internet from accessing the desired products and services from another member state.

How does geoblocking work in practice? For example, a person from Croatia wants to buy a certain product on a Czech online store, but cannot access that website or is automatically redirected to the Croatian version of that online store.

Such a practice has been deemed discriminatory within the EU’s single market, so geoblocking cannot be implemented based on consumer nationality, place of residence, etc., since the end of 2018 when the regulation on this came into force throughout the European Union.

Geoblocking also slows down online shopping and cross-border sales within the European Union.

For example, a certain company should not prohibit registration to a buyer from another distant EU member state on its website, thereby preventing the purchase of products.

However, there is no obligation to deliver products to another member state.

Also, products in online stores of various member states do not have to cost the same.

Therefore, at the end of last year, MEPs pointed out these barriers and different treatments of European consumers.

There is “untapped potential for cross-border economic activities” that is hindered by barriers due to geoblocking, MEPs concluded in a resolution adopted in December.

“Such activities could be encouraged by removing remaining barriers related to geoblocking, ensuring the smooth functioning of the internal market and guaranteeing that all European citizens have equal access to goods and services regardless of their location, further promoting the free movement of products and services,” it adds.

The economic potential of removing existing barriers is also indicated by the fact that 12 percent of businesses in the European Union launched online sales due to the covid-19 pandemic or increased efforts in that direction, MEPs state.

MEPs concluded that the limited availability of catalogs with audiovisual content and the following of sports events via streaming platforms is restricted.

Also, as MEPs point out, geoblocking ban rules do not apply to e-books, music, software, and online games. (June 3, 2024)