"Kopen via internet moet simpeler en veiliger worden" (en)

EU lawmakers ought to update the rules governing e-trading and ensure they are implemented evenly across the EU, MEPs were told at a hearing of experts and consumer representatives on Wednesday. This hearing, on "Consumer Confidence in the Digital Environment", paves the way for an own-initiative report to be drawn up by the EP Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee.

EU action is needed to remove barriers to cross-border e-shopping, such as language, limited payment methods, internet access, market segmentation, security concerns, brand perception, and privacy / data protection issues, urged Anna Fielder of Civic Consulting, a management consulting company.

According to a recent study, 27% of Europeans have made an online purchase, but only 6% have shopped online across borders, pointed out Tanya Sammut-Bonnici (University of Warwick), arguing that dynamic growth in cross-border internet commerce requires a "critical mass". "It may take another five to ten years to see e-shopping take off", she estimated, adding that it is up to lawmakers to help stimulate change.

The EU ought to implement "solutions to inconsistencies and differences in legislation" (e.g. by regulating e-trading standards), improve possibilities for cross-border redress, adopt measures on fraud, network security and payment systems, and invest in consumer awareness campaigns, argued Mrs Fielding.

It is necessary to modernise existing legislation and to implement it evenly "across all EU Member States", argued eBay representative Paloma Castro Martinez, "so that buyers and sellers [in the EU] understand their rights, no matter where the transaction takes place". Mrs Castro Martinez commented that it is trust that drives her company's success. As she sees it, the key ingredient in building and developing trust -- for sellers and buyers alike -- is the use of cutting-edge technology to ensure security and reliability.    

Prompted by rapporteur Zuzana Roithova (EPP-ED, CZ) to address the effectiveness of "trustmarks" (independently assigned marks that verify whether a website is trustworthy), Mrs Fielder noted that -- given the proliferation of different trustmarks across Europe and "very little recognition of what they are" -- a pan-European trustmark could be a good idea.

24/01/2007

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Chair: : Arlene McCarthy (PES, UK)