92001E0438

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0438/01

by Andrew Duff (ELDR) to the Commission

(16 February 2001)

Subject: Single market

A European Union citizen tried to buy a Eurostar ticket for a London to Brussels round-trip and discovered that the ticket would cost him less if he were to buy the ticket in Brussels. Eurostar justifies the price disparity by reference to the variable market conditions in each country. However, when he contacted the Eurostar ticketing facilities in Belgium, hoping to buy the ticket with the use of his credit card over the telephone, he was surprised to find that Eurostar would not mail him the ticket to a destination outside Belgium, even though he was fully prepared to pay for the mailing and packaging fee. Not having any contact in Belgium, the citizen was forced to buy the ticket in England and therefore incur a higher cost for the same service.

Is the Commission aware of this situation? Is this not a violation of the Single market? Is Eurostar's behaviour legal?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission

(11 May 2001)

The Commission can assure the Honourable Member that it is always concerned by business practices that are aimed at dividing the Single Market along national boundaries or that discriminate against consumers in certain Member States.

The question refers to a private business practice that should be assessed under the Community competition rules. Under these rules it is not illegal for a provider of transport services to apply different prices on different markets, such as travel in different directions on the same route. Nor is it necessarily a breach of Community law for a company to sell an identical product at different prices in different Member States.

A refusal to sell or transmit a ticket to a customer in another Member State may be illegal in certain circumstances, however. In particular, Eurostar may be in breach of the competition rules if it has concluded a restrictive agreement with independent distributors of its services or if there is a concerted practice to prevent them selling tickets outside their home Member States. It could also be a breach of the competition laws if Eurostar's behaviour results from a horizontal agreement with its competitors or if it could be shown to have abused a dominant position on the market.

While the Commission does not have evidence of such behaviour in this case it would be interested in receiving further information.