The Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament welcome today the Commission’s ‘platforms to business proposal’, which seeks to regulate for the first time the relationship between large tech groups, like Amazon, Booking or the Apple store, and small companies or vendors. The draft law will set transparency standards concerning the algorithms used, force platforms to improve the way they deal with complaints, and give small businesses the possibility of collective redress.

 

 

“Too often small companies have no choice but to swallow the trading terms dictated to them by big tech giants like Amazon, Booking or the Apple store, even if they are blatantly unfair. When delisted or demoted in a search engine rankings, or faced with a change of terms and conditions without explanation, small businesses and vendors today are defenceless. We Socialists and Democrats want to empower the small business Davids in their dealings with the digital Goliaths.  Therefore, we are pleased with the Commission’s plans to give businesses the possibility to collectively sue platforms, if they fail to deal with complaints properly. Giving small vendors a more transparent digital business environment will benefit European consumers.”

 

 

“The Socialists and Democrats welcome that the Commission, for the first time, seeks to regulate the business operations of tech giants. Personal data may well be the most important commodity and digital platforms the market places of the 21st century, but we cannot let Facebook, Google and Amazon rule the world. It is high time we stepped up our legislative efforts to tame the disruptive digital revolution our societies and economies are undergoing. As we did during the last Industrial revolution 150 years ago, we Socialists and Democrats will spearhead to movement to ensure that technical progress is turned into social progress for all.”

 

 

The draft law still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and EU governments before it can enter into force.