European Union (Unjustified Geoblocking of Consumers) Regulations 2018.

• Statutory Instrument No.: 513/2018
• Published date: 07 December 2018

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 7th December, 2018.

I, HEATHER HUMPHREYS, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972) and for the purpose of giving effect to Regulation (EU) 2018/302 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 February 20181 on addressing unjustified geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on customers’ nationality, place of residence or place of establishment within the internal market and amending Regulations (EC) No 2006/2004 and (EU) 2017/2394 and Directive 2009/22/EC, hereby make the following regulations:

Citation and Commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Union (Unjustified Geo-blocking of Consumers) Regulations 2018.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), these Regulations come into operation on 3 December 2018.

(3) Article 6 of the Council Regulation shall apply to provisions of agreements concluded before 2 March 2018 that are compliant with Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or with section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 (No. 14 of 2002) from 23 March 2020.

Interpretation

2. (1) In these Regulations—

“Act of 2007” means the Consumer Protection Act 2007 (No. 19 of 2007);

“Council Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2018/302 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 February 20181 on addressing unjustified geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination based on customers’ nationality, place of residence or place of establishment within the internal market and amending Regulations (EC) No 2006/2004 and (EU) 2017/2394 and Directive 2009/22/EC;

“Regulations of 2015” means the European Union (Online Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes) Regulations 2015 ( S.I. No. 500 of 2015 ).

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and which is also used in the Council Regulation has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Council Regulation.

Enforcement

3. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission is designated for the purposes of Article 7 of the Council Regulation as regards disputes between a consumer and a trader.

Assistance to Consumers

4. The European Consumer Centre Ireland is designated for the purposes of Article 8 of the Council Regulation.

Offences

5. (1) A trader who contravenes Articles 3(1), 3(2), 4(1), or 5(1) of the Council Regulation in respect of a consumer commits an offence.

(2) A trader who commits an offence under paragraph (1) shall be liable on summary conviction to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both.

(3) Sections 77, 78, 80 and 84 of the Act of 2007 shall apply to an offence under these Regulations as they apply to an offence under that Act and, accordingly, references in those sections to an offence under that Act shall be construed as...