The implementation of the Digital Single Market is regarded as one of the priorities of the European Commission. This week, the European Commission has presented two proposals, which shall offer easier access to digital contents. Hence, uniform European Contract rules have been planned for internet transactions. Apart from that, the further cross-border use (“Portability”) of online contents shall be made possible and the copyright has to be modified.

According to information of the European Commission, online trade is on the increase, but has not yet reached its potential. Basically, consumers buy three times as many goods and services via internet in their own country as they do from foreign companies. This means from the point of view of companies that within the EU only 12 % of traders sell goods and services to customers online within the EU. However, in their own country the internet is used as a sales channel of 37 % of traders.

According to Vera Jourová (EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality) and Andrus Ansip (Vice President for the Digital Single Market), the following measures shall increase the confidence of consumers in online trade, create legal certainty for companies and thereby boost the potential of the electronic trade:

· Improvement of warranty claims by reversing the burden of proof. The current regulations says that in case of a defect, which incurs within the first 6 months from the day of purchase, the company is obliged to remedy it free of charge within the warranty period, unless it can prove that the defect did not exist at the time of handover. However, if a defect only occurs after 6 months, the consumer has to prove that the defect already existed at the time of handover. Based on the new regulation, consumers are now able to ask for defects to be remedied during the entire warranty period of 24 months, without having to prove that the defect already existed at the time of delivery.

· Creating of clear rules in case that digital content does not work properly. Here too, consumers shall have the right in future to have a defect remedied, to obtain a price reduction or to terminate the contract (and be fully reimbursed).

· Harmonisation of Member States' consumer contract rules to ensure that companies can sell digital content and goods online within the entire EU in accordance with unified contract rules. This also results in a cost saving for companies.

As welcome the proposals of the European Commission are (in particular in view of the simplification of warranty rules), it will have to be clarified how these rights can be enforced vis-à-vis foreign traders in case of dispute and which relevant accompanying measures have been planned.

Further information:

Press release - European Commission

European Commission - Digital Single Market