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European Commission proposes new e-commerce rules

Xinhua, May 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

The European Commission tabled a package of measures on Wednesday to allow consumers and companies to buy and sell products as well as services online more easily and confidently across the European Union (EU).

Among the three-pronged e-commerce package, the Commission proposed a legislation to ensure that consumers seeking to buy products and services in another EU country, be it online or in person, are not discriminated against in terms of access to prices, sales or payment conditions, unless this is objectively justified for reasons such as VAT or certain public interest legal provisions.

Secondly, the commission proposed a regulation that will increase price transparency and regulatory oversight of cross-border parcel delivery services so that consumers and retailers can benefit from affordable deliveries and convenient return options even to and from peripheral regions.

The commission also proposed revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, which will give more powers to national authorities to better enforce consumer rights, for example, checking if websites geo-block consumers or offer after-sales conditions not respecting EU rules, ordering the immediate take-down of websites hosting scams as well as requesting information from domain registrars and banks to detect the identity of the responsible trader.

Andrus Ansip, European Commission vice president for the digital single market, said that "all too often people are blocked from accessing the best offers when shopping online or decide not to buy cross-border because the delivery prices are too high or they are worried about how to claim their rights if something goes wrong."

"We want to solve the problems that are preventing consumers and businesses from fully enjoying the opportunities of buying and selling products and services online," added Ansip. Endit