Brussels, 22/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption of 298 votes to 11 and 204 abstentions the report by British Liberal Diana Wallis, the European Parliament (which is not consulted on the matter) calls for several changes to be made to the draft regulation concerning the jurisdiction, recognition and implementation of decisions in civil and commercial matters. This proposal aims to make uniform the rules of private international law in Member States regarding judicial competence (which would be recognised at the courts of the place where the company that sells the good or provides a service through electronic commerce is located) as well as to improve and speed up the recognition and implementation of judgements in civil and commercial matters.
At the present time, consumers have the right to appear in court before their own jurisdiction. The Parliament considers that wanting to refer them to foreign courts would be excessive and unreasonable given the low value of most of the transactions on the Internet as well as the cost and the heaviness of proceedings abroad. Ms Wallis also stressed that the operators on Internet hold a far more solid position than the consumers in the field of online purchases as, most of the time, they are paid in advance by credit card. They are also better placed for insuring themselves against all risks. By adopting amendments of the rapporteur for the ELDR Group, with the support of the PES, V/ALE and GUE/NGL Groups, the Parliament urges for the introduction of an extra-judicial system for the settlement of disputes, approved with a plan approved by the European Commission. This system should, however, not affect the consumer or the operator's right to appear in court where the consumer is resident in order to obtain settlement of one or several points of law or to have an arbitration decision or settlement applied in the context of the extra-judicial system cited. The Parliament also asks for the adoption of this regulation to be delayed until adoption of the whole package of legislative and non-legislative initiatives announced by Commissioners Bolkestein and Byrne in the field of alternative systems for dispute settlement and the settlement of online disputes. Such a solution would make it possible to avoid the appearance of certain legal uncertainties while giving the industry time to adjust and proceed to the necessary adjustments.