Brussels, 23/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - The internet represents the fastest growing niche market in the retail trade but only one out of every three consumers is planning to make online purchases in another country of the European Union. In a report adopted on Tuesday 21 September, the European Parliament formulated new proposals aimed at encouraging cross-border e-trade and developing consumer trust. This report by Pablo Arias Echeverría (EPP, Spain) constitutes the Parliament's response to the Commission's work document of March 2010 on barriers to e-trading as experienced by consumers and companies.
The EP is proposing the creation of a European trust mark in order to guarantee the reliability and quality of products on the cross-border internet market. This system will be based on Community law, overseen by the European Commission and backed up by a control mechanism and standards implementation, which certain member states have already planned at a national level. Parliament highlights the obstacles created by foreign operators who refuse to accept orders from consumers in other countries and regrets that the directive on services has still not been fully transposed into the legislation of the member states. The system will also be intended to put an end to discrimination affecting consumers on the basis of their e-mail addresses or where they live. Consumers also require confidentiality of their personal data and want to enjoy greater transparency with regard to the identity of the providers whom they contact. In an effort to attain these objectives, the Parliament underlines the importance of supporting optimum safety systems in electronic transactions and calls on the Commission to create a European early warning system, particularly on the basis of data for fighting fraud in the single market. Finally, MEPs call for an appropriate degree of harmonisation of certain aspects of contract law, with particular regard to the processing of certain kinds of guarantee requests. A new directive on consumer law is currently being elaborated. The Commission is also committed to publishing an EU code on online rights by 2012. (I.L./transl.fl)