The EU Commission has recently once again conducted several market screenings and one result is already clear as day: (Online) traders should review their digital distribution to avoid penalties.

With Regulation (EU) 2018/302 (“Geo-blocking Regulation”), the EU legislature wanted to unify the digital single market and counteract the established separation of digital markets through unjustified discrimination against end customers based on geographical data (Geo-blocking).

The Geo-blocking Regulation severely influenced online distribution on all levels of the supply chain. Under threat of high fines online-traders and distributors are prohibited from limiting access to goods and services for customers from other EU Member states. The tricky part: This does not only affect B2C but also B2B trade.

The EU Parliament and the EU Commission have recently refocused their efforts to ban Geo-blocking. Recent market studies have shown that geo-blocking is still being widely practiced. The EU Commission’s conclusion of the respective studies leads to believe that the rules on geo-blocking will possibly become even stricter and may even include an obligation to deliver.

So what needs to be done?

1. Carefully stress test your distribution with a legal expert: From online shop to large scale distributions systems. Fines according to the Geo-blocking Regulation and the EU antitrust stipulations can be severe! Know your risk and level of compliance.
2. Prepare for possible changes to the stipulations on Geo-blocking. Review your contractual basis with your distributors as well as your general terms and conditions for your online shop.
3. Limit your exposure by properly drafting your contracts to comply with the stipulations on Geo-blocking, but only as much as necessary.
4. And stay posted with the our unyer website or on LinkedIn or get in touch directly!

unyer Working Group Commercial

Dr Robert Burkert
Dr Christoph von Burgsdorff