New EU rules to govern e-commerce are to be introduced this autumn, covering consumer contracts and data protection.
Speaking in London on Friday, European Commission Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said national barriers would be broken down online. Only 20% of the 150m people in the EU who shop on the Internet currently buy from businesses based outside the national borders of where they live, which she suggested was largely down to “legal uncertainty, enforcement and consumer redress”.
The Commissioner said the ‘patchwork of complex, piecemeal laws’ had resulted in ‘a maze of different rights and practices, from cooling off periods to guarantees that are as unclear to consumers as they are confusing for business’.
“A single, simple set of core rights and obligations will make it easier for consumers and business to buy and sell across Europe,” she said. “It will increase consumer confidence and bring compliance costs down for business.”
Fraud has been another important factor affecting trust in online shopping, and Mrs Kuneva said the EU is working with the Transatlantic Economic Council in the US to fight spam and fraudulent behaviour, and last year an EU-wide group of national enforcement bodies conducted a sweep to enforce compliance with online consumer legislation.
“We need to improve redress, and notably cross border redress,” she said. “In 2007 European Consumer Centres [sponsored by the EU to resolve cross border disputes] processed more than 10,000 complaints related to cross border e-commerce. Half of these complaints related to delivery problems, and particularly to non delivery.
“There is little a consumer can do when mediation fails; this issue needs to be addressed.”
Privacy and data collection was another area which the Commissioner is keen to tackle in her proposed reforms.
“If you read about home improvement, chances are that you will receive ads for repair services and new furniture. The profiling of Internet users is intended to increase the value of advertising to the advertiser, the publishers and the consumer.
“But there are some concerns that the amounts of personal data collected over the Internet without the awareness of users, let alone their consent, is getting too large and a bit out of control. The full consequences of profiling are also not yet understood.
“In the case of our browser of home improvement websites, he will not only receive a valuable offer for new furniture; chances are he will also receive an offer for a loan. And the conditions of the loan might be determined by a personal profile he is not aware of having disclosed. So what should we think of market segmentation based on individual tastes and recorded behaviour? Particularly when the parameters of the segmentation are unknown to the consumer and beyond his control?
“I believe that informed consent is the central issue that consumer policy must next address.”
New EU rules to govern e-commerce are to be introduced this autumn, covering consumer contracts and data protection.