Press Release: Distance Selling Directive: state of play and public consultation

The European Commission has adopted a Communication on the implementation of Directive 1997/7/EC on Distance Selling, and launched a consultation in order to assess the need to update the Directive. All EU Member States have transposed the Directive, but some problems have emerged with its practical application. For instance, reliance on new technologies, such as “mobile commerce” through SMS, and the popularity of certain marketing methods, such as on-line auctions, underlines the need to consider the effectiveness of the regulation of distance selling. The use of the “minimum clause”, allowing Member States to introduce more stringent provisions to ensure a higher level of consumer protection, has also led to differences in the degree of protection from one Member State to another. This may have led to divergences and distortions in the internal market.

European Commission: DG Communication: MEMO/06/339 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/06/339&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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