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The Council has recently adopted Directive
2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June
2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in
particular electronic commerce, in the Internal market
(Directive on electronic commerce, OJ L 178 of
17.07.2000).
The new European Directive seeks to contribute to
the proper functioning of the internal market by ensuring the free
movement of information society services between the Member States.
The scope of the Directive is to approximate certain national
provisions on information society services relating to the internal
market, the establishment of service providers, commercial
communications, electronic contracts, the liability of
intermediaries, codes of conduct, out-of-court dispute settlements,
court actions and co-operation between Member States.
The Directive does not establish additional rules on
international private law, nor does it deal with the jurisdiction
of courts. In order to achieve regulatory flexibility, the
Directive on Electronic Commerce provides for certain derogations,
such as non-applicability in the field of taxation, questions
relating to agreements or practices governed by cartel law,
activities of notaries, representation of clients before the
courts, gambling activities, etc.
The Directive contains definitions on the
information society services, service provider and established
service provider, recipient of the service, consumer, commercial
communication, regulated profession and coordinated field of
application.
General provisions of the Directive are divided into
4 sections:
- Establishment and Information
Requirements: definition, principle of no prior authorization
and transparency requirements;
- Commercial Communications: definition,
transparency requirements, regulated professions;
- Contracts Concluded by Electronic Means:
online contracting possibilities, contracts formation; placement of
the order;
- Liability of Intermediary Service
Providers: exemption of liability for transmitted third party
information, limitation of liability for caching; no general
obligation to monitor the transmitted information.
Implementation issues cover codes of conduct;
out-of-court dispute settlement; court actions; co-operation
between national authorities and sanctions.
The Directive is a tool to ensure legal certainty
and consumer confidence by laying down clear and coherent legal
framework. Member States of the European Union will have to adopt
their national legislation to comply with the new Directive on
Electronic Commerce before 17 January 2002.
The full text of the Directive can be found at: www.mbc.com/ecommerce.html
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