MEPs want new blacklist of firms which run misleading adverts
The Petitions Committee of the European Parliament has approved a report submitted by Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil calling on EU member states to act together to put an end to misleading advertising by business directory companies. The report was...
The Petitions Committee of the European Parliament has approved a report submitted by Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil calling on EU member states to act together to put an end to misleading advertising by business directory companies.
The report was compiled and presented to the European Parliament following more than 400 complaints from small firms across Europe that they had been misled into committing themselves to pay for adverts costing €1,000 per year. The MEPs also called upon the Commission to introduce a blacklist of such misleading practices, and upon victims to report business scams.
Dr Busuttil's own-initiative report, adopted unanimously by MEPs, condemns these practices and underlines the cross-border nature of the problem. It points out that thousands of small firms, but also schools, libraries and local social clubs have suffered significant financial loss due to these abuses.
Many Maltese small firms and voluntary organisations have also fallen victim to these scams including band clubs and church organisations.
In the report, Dr Busuttil called on Community institutions to provide a reasonable remedy to victims, such that the validity of contracts concluded on the basis of misleading advertising and inducements is terminated and also that the victims should be reimbursed.
The committee urged business scam victims to report cases to the national authorities, and called on member states to provide small firms with the "know-how" needed to file complaints and to ensure that victims seek appropriate advice before they pay fees demanded by business directory companies in these cases. Member states should also set up a centralised database of the complaints, the report states.
The report welcomed action taken by Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, and notably Austria, to try to prevent business directory companies from using misleading practices, but says that these efforts remain inefficient and need to be co-ordinated internationally.
"MEPs regret that the EU directive on misleading advertising, which applies to business-to-business transactions, appears insufficient and asks the European Commission to report by December 2009 on the feasibility of including a blacklist of misleading practices in the directive," the report states.
The report was compiled and presented to the European Parliament following more than 400 complaints from small firms across Europe that they had been misled into committing themselves to pay for adverts costing €1,000 per year. The MEPs also called upon the Commission to introduce a blacklist of such misleading practices, and upon victims to report business scams.
Dr Busuttil's own-initiative report, adopted unanimously by MEPs, condemns these practices and underlines the cross-border nature of the problem. It points out that thousands of small firms, but also schools, libraries and local social clubs have suffered significant financial loss due to these abuses.
Many Maltese small firms and voluntary organisations have also fallen victim to these scams including band clubs and church organisations.
In the report, Dr Busuttil called on Community institutions to provide a reasonable remedy to victims, such that the validity of contracts concluded on the basis of misleading advertising and inducements is terminated and also that the victims should be reimbursed.
The committee urged business scam victims to report cases to the national authorities, and called on member states to provide small firms with the "know-how" needed to file complaints and to ensure that victims seek appropriate advice before they pay fees demanded by business directory companies in these cases. Member states should also set up a centralised database of the complaints, the report states.
The report welcomed action taken by Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, and notably Austria, to try to prevent business directory companies from using misleading practices, but says that these efforts remain inefficient and need to be co-ordinated internationally.
"MEPs regret that the EU directive on misleading advertising, which applies to business-to-business transactions, appears insufficient and asks the European Commission to report by December 2009 on the feasibility of including a blacklist of misleading practices in the directive," the report states.