EuroCommerce has recured its support for a Digital Markets Act (DMA) for the retail and wholesale sectors in Europe ahead of the talks between the European Parliament, Council and Commission.

EuroCommerce director general Christel Delberghe, said, "We ask co-legislators to ensure that the rules finally adopted are workable, clear for all players, and do not create unnecessary burdens or costs. In particular, we ask that the DMA fully reflects the differences between the various services provided by platforms and avoids fragmentation of the single market.” He also emphasized that, “The COVID-19 pandemic has massively accelerated online sales, and platforms can offer traders, including SMEs, real benefits, increasing their visibility and access to a wider customer base, providing efficiency and reduced transaction costs.”

EuroCommerce added that it supports the proposal of the Commission to express clearly, in a regulatory dialogue with stakeholders, how far an obligation applies to a certain platform service, in order to allow rules to be tailored to different types of business models.

It also supports the European Parliament’s proposal to define concepts such as ‘end user’ and ‘business user’ differently according to the type of core platform, with the definition of active end-user for e-commerce marketplaces solely linked to a monetary transaction or purchase.

The counsil hopes that the talks will be conducted in a fully transparent manner, and the impact of any major new changes will be considered carefully.