EC consultation on E-Commerce Directive closes 5 November

The European Commission wishes to study in detail the various reasons for the limited takeoff of electronic commerce, as stated in the Retail Market Monitoring Report “Towards more efficient and fairer retail services in the internal market for 2020” (COM (2010) 355) and evaluate the implementation of the Directive, in accordance with its Article 21, as announced in the Communication “A Digital Agenda for Europe” (COM (2010) 245). For this purpose, Commission services wish to consult interested parties directly and receive their reaction and experience on a number of subjects:

• The level of development, both national and cross-border, of information society services.
• Issues concerning the application of Article 3(4) by the Member States (administrative cooperation).2
• Contractual restrictions on cross-border on-line sales.
• Cross-border on-line commercial communications, in particular by the regulated professions.
• The development of on-line press services.
• The interpretation of the provisions concerning the liability of intermediary information society service providers.
• The development of on-line pharmacy services
• The resolution of on-line disputes.

1) As defined in Directive 98/48/CE: any Information Society service, that is to say, any service normally provided for remuneration, at a distance, by electronic means and at the individual request of a recipient of services.
2) On-line gambling will be the subject of a consultation scheduled for the second half of 2010.
3) Otherwise known as the “country of origin principle”: each Member State shall ensure that the information society services provided by a service provider established on its territory complies with the national provisions applicable in the Member State in question which fall within the “coordinated field”, even when he provides the service in another Member State.