New EU E-Commerce Rules For Better Consumer Protection

Following a screening conducted by the EU Commission in 2014, it was discovered that 37% of E-commerce including booking websites for travel, entertainment, clothing, electronic goods and consumer credit services, were in breach of EU consumer laws.

A new draft legislation aims to update the current Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation ("CPC Regulation") by increasing the powers of national regulatory authorities, thus enabling them to trace rogue traders, assess if e-commerce sites practice geo-blocking and in certain cases, order the shutting down of websites. Most importantly, the proposed regulation aims to strengthen harmonization in this area and improve cross-border enforcement of EU consumer laws.