As part of its digital single market (DSM) strategy, the European Commission on Wednesday presented three proposals aimed at improving cross-border access to online content and services.
According to the Commission, only 12% of EU retailers sell goods and services online to customers in other EU countries, while only 15% of consumers make online purchases from companies based in other EU countries.
In a bid to remove obstacles to cross-border e-commerce, Brussels has made two proposals.
The first aims to harmonise consumer protection across member states, specifically rules entitling customers to exchange or receive refunds for faulty goods both physical and digital.
The second will enable businesses that supply digital content and sell goods online to use the same set of contract rules in every EU member state they sell to. As it stands, businesses have to adapt to individual countries’ contract laws, which incurs a one-off fee of €9,000 per member state. Under the EU’s proposal, companies can use the same contract and will only have to pay once, representing a potential saving of up to €243,000.
"Today’s proposals will give more rights to consumers online – allow them to enjoy products and services from other EU countries in full confidence. Businesses, especially the smallest ones, can grow across borders at less cost, with a common set of EU rules instead of a patchwork of national laws," said Andrus Ansip, EU vice president for the digital single market, in a statement.
The Commission has also proposed changes to EU copyright law to enable consumers travelling within the EU to access the online content – such as e-books, and music and video-streaming services – that they subscribe to at home.
As it stands, a U.K. Netflix customer travelling to Germany, for example, can only access Netflix content available in Germany. If they travel to Poland, they won’t be able to access Netflix at all because it hasn’t launched there yet.
Dubbed cross-border portability, the Commission aims to bring it into force in 2017.
"We want to ensure the portability of content across borders. People who legally buy content – films, books, football matches, TV series – must be able to carry it with them anywhere they go in Europe," Ansip said.
The Commission said it hopes that cross-border portability will help to reduce piracy, given that 22% of Europeans see nothing wrong with downloading pirated material if there is no legal alternative available in their country.
The Commission said it will also look at whether authors and performers receive sufficient remuneration when thei r copyright-protected works appear online, and will look to establish uniform copyright legislation across the EU.
"We want a copyright environment that is stimulating, fair, rewards investment in creativity and makes it easier for Europeans to access and use content legally," said Günther Oettinger, commissioner for the digital economy and society.
