REGIS - Reg. Intermediation Services 2019/1150 EN

1. Providers of online_intermediation_services shall include in their terms_and_conditions a description of any differentiated treatment which they give, or might give, in relation to goods or services offered to consumers through those online_intermediation_services by, on the one hand, either that provider itself or any business_users which that provider controls and, on the other hand, other business_users. That description shall refer to the main economic, commercial or legal considerations for such differentiated treatment.

2. Providers of online_search_engines shall set out a description of any differentiated treatment which they give, or might give, in relation to goods or services offered to consumers through those online_search_engines by, on the one hand, either that provider itself or any corporate_website_users which that provider controls and, on the other hand, other corporate_website_users.

3. The descriptions referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall cover in particular, where applicable, any differentiated treatment through specific measures taken by, or the behaviour of, the provider of online_intermediation_services or the provider of the online_search_engine relating to any of the following:

(a)

access that the provider, or that the business_users or corporate_website_users which that provider controls, may have to any personal data or other data, or both, which business_users, corporate_website_users or consumers provide for the use of the online_intermediation_services or the online_search_engines concerned or which are generated through the provision of those services;

(b)	ranking or other settings applied by the provider that influence consumer access to goods or services offered through those online_intermediation_services by other business_users or through those online_search_engines by other corporate_website_users;

(c)	any direct or indirect remuneration charged for the use of the online_intermediation_services or online_search_engines concerned;

(d)

access to, conditions for, or any direct or indirect remuneration charged for the use of services or functionalities, or technical interfaces, that are relevant to the business_user or the corporate_website_user and that are directly connected or ancillary to utilising the online_intermediation_services or online_search_engines concerned.

Article 10

Restrictions to offer different conditions through other means

1. Where, in the provision of their services, providers of online_intermediation_services restrict the ability of business_users to offer the same goods and services to consumers under different conditions through other means than through those services, they shall include the grounds for that restriction in their terms_and_conditions and make those grounds easily available to the public. Those grounds shall include the main economic, commercial or legal considerations for those restrictions.

2. The obligation set out in paragraph 1 shall not affect any prohibitions or limitations in respect of the imposition of such restrictions that result from the application of other acts of Union law or the law of Member States that is in accordance with Union law and to which the providers of online_intermediation_services are subject.

whereas

(30) Where a provider of online_intermediation_services itself offers certain goods or services to consumers through its own online_intermediation_services, or does so through a business_user which it controls, that provider might compete directly with other business_users of its online_intermediation_services which are not controlled by the provider, which might give the provider an economic incentive and the ability to use its control over the online_intermediation_services to provide technical or economic advantages to its own offering, or those offered through a business_user which it controls, which it could deny to competing business_users.
Such behaviour could undermine fair competition and restrict consumer choice.
In such situations, in particular, it is important that the provider of online_intermediation_services acts in a transparent manner and provides an appropriate description of, and sets out the considerations for any differentiated treatment, whether through legal, commercial or technical means, such as functionalities involving operating systems that it might give in respect of goods or services it offers itself compared to those offered by business_users.
To ensure proportionality, this obligation should apply at the level of the overall online_intermediation_services, rather than at the level of individual goods or services offered through those services.

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(34) In the same vein, it is important for business_users to understand whether the provider shares with third parties any data which has been generated through the use of the intermediation service by the business_user.
Business users should in particular be made aware of any sharing of data with third parties that occurs for purposes which are not necessary for the proper functioning of the online_intermediation_services; for example where the provider monetises data under commercial considerations.
To allow business_users to fully exercise available rights to influence such data sharing, providers of online_intermediation_services should also be explicit about possibilities to opt out from the data sharing where they exist under their contractual relationship with the business_user.

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(36) Providers of online_intermediation_services might in certain cases restrict in their terms_and_conditions the ability of business_users to offer goods or services to consumers under more favourable conditions through other means than through those online_intermediation_services.
In those cases, the providers concerned should set out the grounds for doing so, in particular with reference to the main economic, commercial or legal considerations for the restrictions.
This transparency obligation should however not be understood as affecting the assessment of the legality of such restrictions under other acts of Union law or the law of Member States that is in accordance with Union law, including in the areas of competition and unfair commercial practices, and the application of such laws.

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keyboard_tab REGIS - Reg. Intermediation Services 2019/1150 EN

REGIS - Reg. Intermediation Services 2019/1150 EN