Document(s): 

ecommerce_europe_-_joint_letter_with_beuc_-_30042015.pdf

Author(s): 

Ecommerce Europe and BEUC

Year of publication: 

2015

Ahead of the presentation of the European Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy, Ecommerce Europe - the European umbrella organization for e-commerce - and BEUC - The European Consumer Organization - joined forces and sent a letter to several Commissioners in order to ensure that the envisaged on-line consumer purchases initiative will efficiently strengthen consumer trust while facilitating businesses’ cross-border sales.

More harmonization needed!

In their letter, the two associations call upon the European policy makers for more legal harmonization of Business-to-Consumers contract law as the best way to improve cross-border online sales. However, as long as more complete harmonization will not be achieved and national law systems diverge, Ecommerce Europe and BEUC recommend the European legislators to clarify the law applicable to contractual obligations (Rome I regulation). This would give consumers and businesses more legal certainty to sell products and/or services abroad

Next steps

Ecommerce Europe and BEUC will continue their dialogue with European policy makers to ensure their interests are taken into account in the Digital Single Market Strategy that will be presented on Wednesday 6 May and all the concrete proposals that will follow from the Strategy in the second half of 2015.