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European & International Booksellers Federation

EIBF

EIBF is the voice of national booksellers associations representing over 25,000 individual bookshops globally.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Laurence Farreng (Member of the European Parliament)

20 Nov 2025 · EUDR

Meeting with Nadine Morano (Member of the European Parliament)

20 Nov 2025 · Règlement déforestation

Booksellers Federation urges enforcement over new digital obligations

24 Oct 2025
Topic — The initiative addresses unfair online practices, dark patterns, and addictive digital product design.
Message — Strengthen implementation of current laws instead of creating new burdens for small booksellers. Focus enforcement on high-risk social media platforms rather than applying identical rules to every sector.12
Why — Booksellers would avoid administrative costs and keep protections against the abuse of return rights.3
Impact — Large social media and video platforms would face more concentrated regulatory scrutiny and enforcement.4
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EIBF demands tougher DMA rules to curb Amazon’s book monopoly

23 Sept 2025
Topic — The Commission is reviewing the Digital Markets Act to ensure fair competition.
Message — EIBF wants 'retail and distribution' included in the regulation to address gatekeepers' dual roles. They also demand mandatory interoperability for e-book formats to prevent consumer lock-in. Finally, they suggest yearly reviews and anonymous reporting channels to protect against retaliation.123
Why — Broadening the rules would safeguard independent booksellers from Amazon's unfair self-preferencing.4
Impact — Tech giants like Amazon would lose the power to maintain closed digital ecosystems.56
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Response to Quality Jobs Roadmap

14 Jul 2025

The European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) is the voice of booksellers in the European Union and globally. EIBFs members are national Booksellers Associations, who represent all kinds of book retailers, a majority being small and medium-sized independent and family-owned bookshops. As representatives of micro and SME retailers in the book sector, who contribute significantly to the European economy, culture and democracy, while facing significant challenges, we welcome the opportunity to provide input to the Quality Jobs Roadmap. The recent cost of living crisis and surge in inflation have been felt by businesses up and down the high street including bookshops. Many booksellers report that theyre struggling to pay their staff a decent wage, and that talented employees are leaving to pursue more lucrative career opportunities. Fixed costs have increased tremendously, while people are buying fewer books due to rising prices. Strong cultural policies that promote books, reading and literacy, as well as initiatives that support education, access to books and reading events, are key to ensure the viability of bookselling as a desirable, long-term career path for the next generation. At the same time, we are also observing a generational shift: senior booksellers and bookshop owners are retiring and looking for the younger generation to take over. While there are passionate and dedicated candidates available, this shift requires great financial investment, which is not always available as banks are reluctant to approve loans for low-margin cultural professions such as bookselling. In addition, dedicated training for booksellers is scarce all over Europe. In some countries, there are no formal options of training or education available. Instead, future booksellers learn all the diverse set of skills they need to know on the shopfloor from day one. However, bookselling is a complex business that requires knowledge in literature, as well as in stock management, logistics, accountancy and even HR. We therefore call for policies and initiatives that acknowledge, support and invest in both high-street businesses and a new generation of booksellers, through: - High quality and all-round vocational training - Initiatives that support and empower a new generation of entrepreneurs in the cultural sector - Lifelong learning opportunities, especially those geared towards new technologies, so that no one is left behind - Public support schemes dedicated to sectors facing a generational shift - Subsidised mentorship programmes - European, national, regional, and local support programmes that contribute to the sustainability of Highstreet businesses, especially regarding their initial opening and succession All the above only makes sense if investments in the future of bookselling are coupled with investments in the future of reading for example, public procurement that enables schools and libraries to buy their books through local bookshops and culture voucher programmes enabling youth to access and engage with books and culture. Last but not least, over the past decade, the international book community has watched with distress how increased political and ideological polarisation has led to book censorships and the development of movements for content-based restrictions. In parallell, we have seen an increase in the cases of vandalism, attacks, aggressive and anti-social behaviour directed towards bookshops and booksellers, and other places dedicated to providing access to books. As open and welcoming spaces that promote the exchange of ideas, bookshops are pillars of our democracies and booksellers should never be harmed or at risk for doing their job. In a climate that is increasingly hostile to the right to read, it is paramount that the European Union upholds the freedom to express, publish and disseminate ideas, books and cultural materials, while acting firmly against censorship and violence.
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Meeting with José Cepeda (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Jun 2025 · Competitiveness and cultural topics

Meeting with Diana Riba I Giner (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Jun 2025 · Book sector future and challenges

Response to A Culture Compass for Europe

27 May 2025

The European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) is the voice of booksellers in the European Union and globally. EIBFs members are national Booksellers Associations, who represent all kinds of book retailers, a majority of those being small and medium-sized independent and family-owned bookshops. We represent around 25,000 booksellers across the entire globe. As such, EIBF welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commissions first Culture Compass, a crucial overarching strategic framework that has the potential to embed culture as a primary strategic pillar for the future of the EU. In the coming years, we urge the Commission to: - Defend freedom of expression and protect cultural professionals - Stand up for literacy - Safeguard cultural businesses through thoughtful legislation in a fragile industry - Establish a data collection system for the cultural sectors - Create opportunities for education and vocational training for cultural professionals - Empower the sector through sustainability, inclusion, and digital innovation - Pool resources and knowledge across the cultural industries - Acknowledge culture as a strategic pillar for the EUs future through appropriate funding - Use culture for broader societal and global goals A paper with our full contribution is attached.
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Meeting with Pascal Arimont (Member of the European Parliament) and OXFAM INTERNATIONAL EU ADVOCACY OFFICE and UNI Europa

14 May 2025 · Study afternoon on Amazon

Meeting with René Repasi (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Deutsche Bank AG and DER MITTELSTANDSVERBUND

15 Apr 2025 · Payment Services Directive

Meeting with Glenn Micallef (Commissioner) and

19 Mar 2025 · Introductory meeting

EIBF urges EU to maintain geo-blocking exemption for e-books

11 Mar 2025
Topic — The EU is reviewing rules that prevent discrimination based on customers' residence or nationality.
Message — EIBF argues the exemption from the geo-blocking regulation is beneficial. Lifting it would make the costs to comply too high for retailers.12
Why — This allows small bookshops to enter the market at surmountable costs.34
Impact — Lifting the exemption would drive smaller players out of the e-book market.5
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Response to Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives

25 Feb 2025

The European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) is the voice of booksellers in the European Union and globally. EIBFs members are national Booksellers Associations, who represent all kinds of book retailers, a majority of those being small and medium-sized independent and family-owned bookshops. As representatives of SME retailers, for whom public procurement contracts often represent an integral part of their business, EIBF welcomes this timely evaluation of the Directive and the opportunity to provide feedback on its necessary improvements. Today, it has become increasingly difficult for small independent bookshops to compete in public procurement calls for tenders prepared by local or regional public authorities. This is due mainly to: -Too large tenders: high-volume book orders benefit bigger suppliers like book distributors or online shops with access to large storage spaces and higher margins, to the detriment of smaller bookshops -Too many and too complex requirements: many contracts contain numerous and often technically complex requirements, which SME book retailers cannot meet -Lowest price as main (and often only) criteria: where competition on the book price is allowed, price is overwhelmingly prioritised over other criteria. This is a disadvantage for SMEs and benefits the largest players who, due to economies of scale and operational capacity, can lower prices. - A practice of awarding contracts by drawing lots: where competition on price is not possible (fixed book pricing), and applications are identical in terms of price, public procurement contracts for the supply of books are currently often rewarded by the drawing of lots, without consideration to additional criteria such as local relevance, local added value, sustainability etc. -Lack of legal options to prioritise local public procurement: Currently, it is not possible for schools, libraries or other public procurement authorities to, within the bounds of EU or national legislation, prioritise local procurement. For the above reasons, when it comes to the public supply of books, the current legislative framework, and its national transposition, have not succeeded in countering the growing exclusion of small and local bookshops from the procurement process. EIBF thus calls for decision makers to carefully reconsider some of the rules set out in the 2014 EU Directive on Public Procurement in order to allow for a wide range of businesses to participate and compete on a level playing field in public procurement call for tenders. EIBF is also consulting members and will answer the consultation on the basis of their input. See more information on the specificities of the book sector and the impact of public procurement in the attached report.
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Meeting with Piotr Müller (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and European Federation of Public Service Unions

25 Feb 2025 · Evaluation of the Public Procurement Directives

Meeting with Hanna Gedin (Member of the European Parliament)

21 Nov 2024 · Public Procurement

Meeting with Leila Chaibi (Member of the European Parliament)

20 Nov 2024 · IMCO files

Meeting with Svenja Hahn (Member of the European Parliament) and BUSINESSEUROPE and

21 Feb 2024 · Stakeholder Roundtable on Late Payment Regulation

Meeting with Laura Ballarín Cereza (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Jan 2024 · Late Payments

Meeting with Maurits-Jan Prinz (Cabinet of Commissioner Thierry Breton)

11 Dec 2023 · proposition de règlement sur les retards de paiement

Meeting with Lauriane Bertrand (Cabinet of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel)

14 Jun 2022 · Trends in books selling Digitalisation Impact of COVID on the sector European Book Week

Meeting with Mariya Gabriel (Commissioner)

9 Apr 2020 · Impact of COVID-19 on the sector

Meeting with Kamila Kloc (Cabinet of Vice-President Andrus Ansip)

6 Sept 2017 · Geoblocking, e-books

Meeting with Alicja Magda Herbowska (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics) and Federation of European Publishers

30 Aug 2016 · European Union Prize for Literature

Meeting with Jean-Claude Juncker (President) and

4 Apr 2016 · Meeting with Ms Dreher, Mr Paagman and Mr Treutenaere on Digital Single Market

Meeting with Anna Herold (Digital Economy)

23 Feb 2016 · copyright

Meeting with Robert Madelin (Director-General Communications Networks, Content and Technology)

27 Feb 2015 · Digital Single Market, Copyright