EC launches set of rules to encourage online cross-border shopping
The newly appointed consumer affairs commissioner, Maglena Kuneva, said the internet opened up huge possibilities for both buyers and sellers.
She believed it could boom in the next five years with more than 174 million shoppers spending €263 billion a year on goods and services.
But the problem was that most — 6% of people — were buying only from retailers in their own member state mainly because they did not trust retailers in other countries and they believed they had no redress.
“We are in danger of ending up with 27 mini online markets in Europe with 27 different sets of rules. The world is moving so fast and Europe risks lagging behind,” said Ms Kuneva, who is from Bulgaria.
The key, she believed, was to ensure that consumers were given a fair deal online and that the many complex rules holding back the next generation of bright business ideas were changed.
She wanted to simplify the patchwork of existing rules and make sure that guarantees given in one country meant the same in every EU member state.
A survey of complaints showed that the biggest one was to do with late delivery, no delivery or partial delivery. “Ordering something for Christmas that arrives in time for Easter is not what people want, but this is the kind of thing that is happening too often,” she said.
Other areas she wanted to tackle were: rules on how to return products; rules on the right and costs of returning goods; rules on remedies available to consumers; a cooling-off period during which goods could be returned; and extending guarantees and rights for goods purchased to services such as downloaded music.
“Our priority is to empower the citizen by making sure they have all the information they need in an understandable format before they purchase; that what they buy is what they get and that they can get redress easily if there is a problem,” said the commissioner.
Retailers too are not taking enough advantage of the internet with an EU average of two thirds selling only to their domestic market. In Ireland the figure is worse at 71% compared to Austria where almost half their sales are cross-border.
Businesses questioned said the main obstacles for them was the fear of fraud or non-payment; concerns about different VAT rules; difficulties in resolving complaints and the different legal requirements on guarantees, refunds etc in different countries.
Today’s Green Paper will kick off a three-month consultation period with interested groups.
The commissioner will visit all member states to get their feedback.
“The internet offers us a brave new world and if we are not courageous we will lose the opportunities it offers. We can make it positive if we take one step more to ensure Europeans can enjoy it,” said Ms Kuneva.
The European Consumer Centre in Dublin reported a big increase in complaints last year. Most related to defective goods and problems with delivery, but there was also an increase in complaints involving fraud. Many were as a result of people meeting on internet auctions but going off-line to conclude the deal.
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