21st February 2020
The Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Bill 2020 has been notified to the European Commission in accordance with the requirements of the Directive (EU) 2015/1535 and can be accessed on the Commission’s Technical Regulation Information System website. The Bill comes within the scope of the Directive as the predominantly online nature of ticket resale means that it constitutes an information society service.
In July 2018, the Government agreed to support the Private Member’s Prohibition of Above-cost Ticket Touting Bill 2017 at Second Stage in Dáil Éireann and approved a number of amendments to the Bill proposed by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. The Bill concluded Second Stage in February 2019.
On 29 January 2020, the Government approved a number of further amendments to the Bill, including to change the original title, and the submission of a draft of the Bill as amended to the European Commission in accordance with the requirement under Directive (EU) 2015/1535.
The text of the Bill notified to the European Commission is a working draft approved by Government for the purpose of notification to the EU Commission. If a future Government decides to proceed with such legislation, it will have to approve a stamped draft of the Bill for publication and circulation to Dáil Éireann in accordance with the established procedures for legislative proposals.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Directive (EU) 2015/1535 on the procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on information society services requires Member States to notify legislative proposals in these areas to the European Commission for assessment of their compatibility with EU law and the Internal Market. Member States are precluded from adopting such proposals for a period of three months from the date of their notification to the Commission.
The Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Bill 2020 is an amended text of the Private Members’ Prohibition of Above-cost Ticket Touting Bill 2017 initiated by the former Deputy Noel Rock and by Deputy Stephen Donnelly. The Bill’s Second Stage commenced in Dáil Éireann in Government time on 31 January 2019 and concluded on 21 February 2019.
While the amended Bill retains the core provision of the Private Members’ Bill prohibiting the sale of tickets above their original sale price, a change to its title was considered necessary as the amendments approved by Government in July 2018 and January 2020 meant that the Bill’s original title no longer represented an adequate statement of its expanded contents.
The text of the Bill notified to the European Commission is a working draft approved by Government for the purpose of the procedural requirement under Directive (EU) 2015/1535 with a view to facilitating early enactment of legislation on the sale of event tickets if a future Government decides to proceed with such legislation.
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