On 10 August the European Commission announced that it has
opened a consultation on the future of e-commerce and the
implementation of the E-Commerce Directive.
This follows last month's publication of the
Commission's first report in relation to a "market
monitoring" exercise that it has been conducting in relation
to EU retail markets since 2007.
Somewhat surprisingly, one of the key issues to emerge from the
report was the slow growth of e-commerce. Ten years after the
adoption of the E-Commerce Directive, which was intended to promote
cross-border on-line services in Europe, on-line transactions in
the EU account for less than 2% of total retail trade.
The Commission recognises that e-commerce promotes cross-border
trade and price competition within the European market, on-line and
off-line. However, it considers that limited engagement in
on-line trade has so far prevented these benefits from being fully
realised. Through the consultation, the Commission
