Pergunta à Comissão Europeia

The pandemic and associated lockdowns have led to the exponential growth of e-commerce throughout the EU. However, it would appear that some regions and certain European citizens do not have the same access to goods and services because of their place of residence. This is the case in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores.

The geo-blocking regulation aims to end discrimination and geo-blocking based on nationality, place of residence or place of establishment, as do the Services Directive and Article 18 TFEU, both of which prohibit indirect discrimination, i.e. that the general conditions of access to a service made available by the provider contain discriminatory provisions based on residence.

In the light of this:

1. Is the Commission aware that this is the case in the autonomous regions of Madeira and the Azores? What measures does it intend to take to put an end to this type of discrimination within the internal market?

2. What steps should the Portuguese Government take to end this discrimination, which puts the citizens of the outermost regions of Madeira and the Azores on a different level to the citizens of the mainland?