Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-09-20-Speech-1-223"
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"en.20100920.22.1-223"2
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"Mr President, firstly, I would like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Arias Echeverría, and Parliament as a whole for this wide-ranging appraisal of the European e-commerce market.
Finally, I should like once again to thank everyone who has been involved with this very useful and inspiring report. Let me also apologise on behalf of Mr Dalli, who is unable to be here for personal reasons.
This report serves as a timely reminder that the e-commerce market is not yet a reality for many businesses and consumers. A fragmented market for e-commerce is also a worrying symptom of the missing links within the wider internal market. Most consumers have first-hand experience of the internal market when shopping online. It brings them into contact with sellers from all over Europe. Many sellers, especially SMEs, are keen to develop new markets thanks to the opportunities opened up by the Internet.
Addressing the obstacles that citizens face in the online world can go a long way towards turning the promise of an integrated internal market into a reality. So what can we do to fill the gaps in the internal market and make e-commerce work better?
The Commission will reflect carefully on its response to the report. Many of the points raised are addressed in various policy domains, including the digital agenda. In short, the report sketches out two avenues that we should explore. First, we need to make life easier and simpler for both consumers and businesses. We can do this by harmonising rules, for example, on consumer contracts, and we can streamline procedures to make them less costly for businesses conducting cross-border transactions, for example, concerning waste management fees, copyright levies, VAT reporting obligations and invoicing.
In this context, the Commission welcomes the report’s support for a consumers’ rights directive, which is currently being considered in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. We will make consumers’ lives easier by enforcing EU legislation, in particular, in relation to the Services Directive, which prohibits geographical discrimination against consumers. Improving delivery and payments issues will also be a key factor if we want to develop e-commerce. We can also make it easier for citizens and companies to interact with national administrations by setting up one-stop-shops.
The Commission has set up a dedicated group of Commissioners for the digital agenda to ensure a joined-up approach to policy making on digital issues. It is also committed to fostering self-regulatory solutions by looking at the possibility of setting up an EU trust mark for e-commerce to complement a code of online rights.
Second, we need to better enforce rules and monitor the internal market: rights that are not enforced in practice are worthless. Alternative dispute resolution, as mentioned in the report, can provide low-cost, simple and quick redress for consumers shopping on the Internet. We will explore how best to improve ADR in the EU and come forward with a proposal for an EU-wide online dispute resolution system for e-commerce transactions by 2012.
We also intend to ensure that consumers in mass-claim situations across the EU are able to obtain compensation. Proposals for ADR and collective redress are also planned for the end of 2011. Knowing that public authorities are working together to keep a close watch on the internal market is a foundation for creating confidence. As part of the consumer protection committee, national authorities regularly cooperate to stamp out unlawful practices on the Internet.
The Commission also monitors the e-commerce market through its yearly consumer markets scoreboard. Earlier this month, we launched an in-depth study of e-commerce. At the beginning of 2011, a communication will be dedicated to the evaluation of the application of the e-Commerce Directive and will reflect on its better enforcement."@en1
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