Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee - First Report on the application of 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)
Date: 2003-11-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU control, activity report, application of EU law, electronic commerce, national implementing measure, telecommunications industry

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 21.11.2003
COM(2003) 702 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND
THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE

First Report on the application of 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)

   
TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................ 3

ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN E-COMMERCE .. 4

TRANSPOSITION OF THE DIRECTIVE ................................................................. 6

Transposition timetable................................................................................................ 6

Characteristics of transposition .................................................................................... 6

Follow-up to transposition ........................................................................................... 7

APPLICATION OF THE DIRECTIVE....................................................................... 8

Internal Market............................................................................................................. 8

Establishment and information requirements............................................................... 9

Commercial communications....................................................................................... 9

Regulated professions ................................................................................................ 10

Electronic contracting ................................................................................................ 11

Liability of internet intermediaries............................................................................. 12

Notice and take down procedures .............................................................................. 14

Codes of conduct and out-of-court dispute settlement............................................... 16

National e-commerce contact points.......................................................................... 17

INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS ................................................................................. 18

International developments in e-commerce ............................................................... 18

Enlargement ............................................................................................................... 19

EVALUATING THE BENEFITS OF THE DIRECTIVE ........................................ 19

ACTION PLAN FOR THE FOLLOW-UP OF THE DIRECTIVE........................... 20

Ensure the correct application of the Directive.......................................................... 20

Enhance administrative cooperation between Member States................................... 20

Raise information and awareness with business and citizens .................................... 21

Monitor policy developments and identify areas for additional action...................... 21

Strengthen international cooperation and regulatory dialogue .................................. 21

CONCLUSIONS........................................................................................................ 22

1.

2.

3.

3.1.

3.2.

3.3.

4.

4.1.

4.2.

4.3.

4.4.

4.5.

4.6.

4.7.

4.8.

4.9.

5.

5.1.

5.2.

6.

7.

7.1.

7.2.

7.3.

7.4.

7.5.

8.

2

1.

INTRODUCTION

This  report  provides  the  first  assessment  of  the  transposition  and  application  of  Directive
2000/31/EC on electronic commerce1 ("the Directive") and its impact. It is based both on the
Commission's  experience  and  on  feedback  received  from  Member  States,  industry,
professional and  consumer associations  and  other  interested  parties  of  their  experience  with
the Directive. In view of the short period of time since the adoption and transposition of the
Directive, such experience is necessarily limited. However, it shows that the Directive has had
a substantial and  positive effect on e-commerce  within  Europe.  Together  with  the  Directive
on  transparency  for  information  society  services2,  which  establishes  a  mechanism  allowing
the  Commission  to  assess  draft  national  legislation  as  to  its  compatibility  with  Community
law,  it  creates  a  straightforward  Internal  Market  framework  which  allows  e-commerce  to
grow across national borders.

Work at European level aiming to promote the development of e-commerce started at an early
stage  with  the  Commission’s  1997  Communication  “A  European  Initiative  in  Electronic
Commerce”3. This set a clear objective of creating a coherent European legal framework for
e-commerce by the year 2000.

Its  importance  was  underlined  by  the  2000  Lisbon  European  Council,  which  set  a  new
strategic  goal  for  the  European  Union  for  the  next  decade:  to  become  the  most  competitive
and  dynamic  knowledge-based  economy  in  the  world.  The  Lisbon  Council  underlined  that
both  citizens  and  business  must  have  access  to  inexpensive,  world-class  communications
infrastructure  and  a  wide  range  of  services  and  that  realising  Europe's  full  e-potential
depended on creating the right conditions for e-commerce and the internet to flourish.

The  Directive,  which  was  adopted  soon  after  the  Lisbon  Council,  is  fully  in  line  with  this
objective. It removes obstacles to cross-border online services in the Internal Market and pro-
vides legal certainty to business and citizens alike. In so doing it enhances the competitiveness
of European service providers, and stimulates innovation and job creation. It also contributes
to the free flow of information and freedom of expression in the European Union.

The  Directive  provides  a  light  and  flexible  legal  framework  for  e-commerce  and  addresses
only those elements which are strictly necessary in order to ensure the proper functioning of
the Internal Market in e-commerce. It is drafted in a technologically neutral way to avoid the
need to adapt the legal framework constantly to new developments.4 It covers a wide variety

1

2

3

4

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, 17.7.2000, p. 1.
Directive  98/34/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  22  June  1998  laying  down  a
procedure  for  the  provision  of  information  in  the  field  of  technical  standards  and  regulations  and  of
rules on Information Society services, OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37 as amended by Directive 98/48/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 July 1998, OJ L 217, 5.8.1998, p. 18. On 13.2.2003
the  Commission  adopted  a  report  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  which  specifically
evaluates  the  application  of  Directive  98/34/EC  in  the  field  of  Information  Society  Services
(COM(2003)69).  The  report  underlines  the  benefits  of  the  procedure,  confirming  the  value  of  this
Directive as an effective internal-market tool in this new economic field.
COM(97) 157 final, 16.4.1997.
For instance, technological applications (WAP or PDA-sets) enabling the content to be accessed by a
specific  device  do  not  constitute  "modification  of  information"  within  the  meaning  of  Article  12,  but
merely "technical specification of content".

3

                                                
of  services  provided  online  (so-called  "information  society  services")  ranging  from  online
newspapers and specialised news services (such as business or financial information), online
selling of various products (books, computer hardware and software, pharmaceuticals, etc.) to
the online provision of financial services (online banking, online investment). The latter are of
particular  importance  as  they  are  particularly  suitable  for  cross-border  delivery,  which  the
Commission  has  recognized  in  its  Communication  on  E-commerce  and  Financial  Services5.
The  Directive  applies  horizontally  across  all  areas  of  law  which  touch  on  the  provision  of
information society services, regardless of whether it is a matter of public, private, or criminal
law.  Furthermore,  it  applies  equally  both  to  business-to-business  (B2B)  and  business-to-
consumer (B2C) e-commerce.

The cornerstone of the Directive is the Internal Market clause which creates the legal certainty
and clarity needed for information society service providers to be able to offer their services
throughout  the  entire  Community.  The  provisions  on  the  liability  of  intermediaries  create
legal  certainty  for  intermediary  service  providers  and  thus  help  to  ensure  the  provision  of
basic  intermediary  services  in  the  internet.  At  the  same  time,  the  Directive’s  provisions  on
information and transparency requirements, its rules on commercial communications, and the
basic  principles  regarding  electronic  contracts  provide  for  high  standards  in  the  conduct  of
online business in all Member States, thus also increasing consumer confidence.

Due to the fact that the Directive was one of the first legal instruments which approached a
broad range of legal issues related to several aspects of the development of e-commerce and
which  provided  a  coherent  set  of  legal  rules  for  e-commerce  as  such,  it  has  attracted  a
considerable amount of attention amongst regulators at international level and is a model for
national, regional, or global regulatory initiatives6.

In  parallel  with  the  putting  into  place  of  the  legal  framework,  work  continues  at  European
level  with  the  aim  of  stimulating  the  development  of  e-business  and  e-government.  In
particular, the Commission set out a coherent strategy in its eEurope Action Plan, which was
adopted  in  2002  in  order  to  continue  with  the  realisation  of  the  goals  set  by  the  Lisbon
Council.7

2.

ECONOMIC 
E-COMMERCE

AND 

TECHNOLOGICAL 

DEVELOPMENTS 

IN

Despite the  downturn  that  affected the e-economy,  e-commerce  is  steadily  increasing  in  the
European Union. Gradually, online success stories are emerging, for example online market-
places, business-to-business (B2B) platforms, and online finance. Development in the use of
the internet has been rapid. There are estimated to be already 185 million European internet
users.8 Since the adoption of the Directive, growth in internet penetration in EU households
has moved from 18% in 2000 to 43% in November 2002. Internet penetration in businesses is
naturally much higher. Even amongst small enterprises (0-49 employees), by 2002, 84% had

5

6

7

8

COM(2001) 66 final, 7.2.2001.
UNCITRAL refers to the Directive in its on-going  work on electronic contracts, cf.  most recently  the
report  on  the  41st  session  of  the  Working  Group  on  e-commerce  at  http://www.uncitral.org/en-
index.htm;  Mercosur  is  in  regular  dialogue  with  the  Commission  on  legal  issues  relating  to  e-
commerce.
On research and development, see also Information Society Technologies 2003-04 Work Programme of
the European Commission, available at http://www.cordis.lu/ist.
Source: Interactive  Advertising Bureau UK,  2002,  http://www.iabuk.net.  This  is  estimated  to  grow  to
190 million by the end of this year by eMarketer, http://www.europemedia.net.

4

                                                
access to the internet. Approximately 70% of EU companies have their own website.9 More
than two-thirds of SMEs use the internet as  a  business tool.  The  internet  is  a key  factor for
them to increase their competitiveness and to create new products and services.

Since  the  adoption  of  the  Directive,  the  potential  of  e-commerce  has,  in  addition,  been
growing due to the technological development of broadband and multiplatform access i.e. the
possibility  of  connecting  to  the  internet  via  other  means  than  a  PC,  such  as  digital  TV  and
third generation mobile phones.10 These developments are opening up a large variety of new
opportunities for online services. New services, applications and content will create new mar-
kets  and  provide  the  means  for  increasing  productivity  and  hence  growth  and  employment
throughout  the  economy.  They  will  also  provide  both  citizens  and  business  with  more  con-
venient access to information and communication tools.11

Currently e-commerce represents only about 1-2% of retail sales in the EU, but the prospects
for growth are promising: for instance, online Christmas shopping in 2002 saw an increase of
86% over the previous year. At present only about 12% of enterprises are selling online with
tourism, financial services, publishing and software being the leading sectors, but their online
purchasing has developed much faster.12 However, according to estimates, B2C e-commerce
is expected to increase from €10 billion in 2000 to €70 billion in 2003.13 It is estimated that
54% of European internet users will shop online by 2006.14

In  addition, online  advertising  is  a  fast  growing  sector.  It  has  been  predicted  that  growth  in
online  advertising  spending  will  outpace  growth  in  total  media  spending  in  2003.15  Total
spending  on  advertising  grew  about  2%  in  2002,  but  online  advertising  has  been  growing
about  ten  times  faster.16  Given  the  number  of  flexible  forms  which  online  advertising  can
take17, and the relative speed with which marketers can modify the elements used in an online
advertising  campaign,  marketers  have  been  quick  to  utilise  the  various  online  advertising
techniques  available  and  to  innovate  in  order  to  best  suit  the  needs  of  potential  customers,
creating a more interactive marketing process.18  Indeed, the internet has  become  a powerful
tool for consumers to obtain information and compare offers in an efficient and user-friendly
way,  i.e.,  to  make  "pre-sale  searches"  enabling  consumers  to  rapidly  obtain  information

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

or 

either 

at  www.europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ict/policy/watch/index.htm 

The  European  e-Business  Report  2002/2003  edition,  the  Business  W@tch  of  the  European
Commission, 
at
www.ebusiness-watch.org.
Communication of the European Commission "Towards the Full Roll-Out of Mobile Communications",
COM(2002) 301 final, 11.6.2002.
eEurope 2005: An information society for all, COM(2002) 263 final, 28.5.2002.
eBusiness  W@tch  (reference  above).  In  the  UK  and  Germany,  for  instance,  more  than  50%  of
enterprises say they already use e-procurement.
European Information Technology Observatory, http://www.eito.org.
Interactive Advertising Bureau UK, 2002, http://www.iabuk.net.
eMarketer's Media Spending Outlook white paper, 2002.
In France and the UK record levels for online advertising have been noted in the second half of 2002,
with  a  52%  increase  in  the  UK  compared  with  2001  and  a  doubling  of  its  size  in  France  from  153
million  euros  in  2001  to  309  million  euros  in  2002,  see  "Europe's  marketers  switch  to  on-line",
Interactive Advertising Bureau UK, June 2003.
E.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, keyword searches.
For example, once a contact has been made with a customer (and his consent given), businesses are able
to tailor product offers to individual customer requirements allowing for personal 'one to one' offers by
e-mail. The gradual switch from the use of pop-up ads to more user-friendly keyword-search related ads
reflects the development of user-friendly advertising techniques.

5

                                                
concerning  the  range  and  characteristics  of  products  and  services  available  both  throughout
Europe and globally.19

The  competitiveness  of  EU  service  providers  has  recently  been  substantially  improved  in
e-commerce  by  the  entry  into  force  of  the  Directive  relating  to  VAT  on  digital  services  on
1 July 200320, which eliminated competitive disadvantages suffered by EU service providers.
The rules on electronic VAT compliance such as e-registration, e-filing and e-invoicing were
also modernised.

3.

TRANSPOSITION OF THE DIRECTIVE

3.1.

Transposition timetable

The deadline for Member States to transpose the Directive into national law was 17 January
2002, 18 months after the entry into force of the Directive on 17 July 2000. The Council and
the  European  Parliament  accepted  a  relatively  short  transposition  period  having  agreed  that
setting up a legal framework for e-commerce was a matter of priority.

There were, however, some delays in transposition, due mainly to the horizontal nature of the
Directive,  which  affects  a  large  variety  of  legal  issues21.  So  far  12  Member  States22  have
brought into force implementing legislation. In the remaining 3 Member States23, work on the
transposition  of  the  Directive  is  well  advanced.  The  Annex  to  this  Report  contains  a  list  of
national measures transposing the Directive.24

3.2.

Characteristics of transposition

In  general,  national  transpositions  have  closely  followed  the  form  and  content  of  the
Directive25.  Member States, with  the exception  of the  Netherlands,  decided  to  transpose  the
Directive  by  a  horizontal  e-commerce  law  in  order  to  create  as  clear  and  user-friendly  a
national  framework  as  possible.  Germany  transposed  the  Directive  by  modifying  its

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

in 

the 

Sequences 

Interactive  Media  Age,  March 

Online advertising, websites, e-mails, and search engine marketing have a distinct impact on the process
of  purchasing  products  even  where  the  product  is  not  sold  on-line,  see  DoubleClick,  Touchpoints:
Effective  Marketing 
2003,
http://www.doubleclick.com/us/knowledge/documents/research/dc_touchpoints_0303.pdf.
Sound statistics on the magnitude of the use of internet for pre-sale research is still lacking, however,
surveys indicate that the figures are significant, see Research by the Interactive Advertising Bureau UK
on the reach of interactive media around Europe.
Council  Directive  2002/38/EC  of  7  May  2002  amending  and  amending  temporarily  Directive
77/388/EEC as regards the value added tax arrangements applicable to radio and television broadcasting
services  and  certain  electronically  supplied  services,  OJ  L  128,  15.5.2002,  p.  41.  See  also  Council
Regulation (EC) 792/2002, OJ L 128, 15.5.2002, p. 1.
These  reasons  came  out  in  bilateral  contacts  with  the  Member  States  during  the  transposition.  Many
Member States, for instance, needed time to ensure wide national consultations of interested parties.
Belgium,  Denmark,  Germany,  Greece,  Spain,  Ireland,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  Austria,  Finland,  Sweden,
United Kingdom. Of those, three Member States (Germany, Luxembourg, and Austria) transposed the
Directive by the deadline of 17 January 2002.
France, Netherlands, and Portugal.
In addition, the three EEA-countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (Norway with the exception of
the  liability  provisions,  which  will  be  separately  implemented)  have  passed  the  implementing
legislation. For accession and candidate countries, see section 5.2.
As  regards  France,  the  Netherlands  and  Portugal,  this  comparison  and  other  references  in  this  report
have been done on the basis of their draft laws, as the final laws were not yet available.

6

                                                
Teleservices  Act.26  The  United  Kingdom  transposed  the  Directive  in  two  parts:  the  general
aspects and the financial services aspects. Belgium separated the main parts of the Directive
and the Article 3(4)-(6) procedure into two separate laws for constitutional reasons.

In most Member States attention at the transposition stage was focused on the Internal Market
clause and the provisions concerning liability of intermediary service providers.  In addition,
the correct transposition of the Directive has  required a  number of Member States to screen
and  modify  existing  national  laws,  for  instance  in  order  to  remove  obstacles  to  electronic
contracting27.  Some  Member  States  included  certain  additional  elements  not  covered  by  the
Directive in their national laws: the liability of providers of hyperlinks and search engines28,
notice  and  take  down  procedures  for  illegal  content29,  registration  requirements  for
information  society  service  providers30,  filtering31,  data  retention32,  cryptology33,  and
additional rules on electronic contracting. Some Member States also included within the scope
of  their  national  e-commerce  law  matters  excluded  from  the  scope  of  application  of  the
Directive, such as online gambling.34

Throughout  the  transposition  procedure  the  Commission  services  were  in  close  cooperation
with all Member States to provide them with assistance in ensuring the correct transposition
of the Directive. Moreover, the large majority of the Member States notified their draft laws
under  the  transparency  procedure  laid  down  in  Directive  98/34/EC35,  since  those  drafts
contained  other  rules  affecting  information  society  services,  thus  going  beyond  the  mere
transposition  of  the Directive.  Both the close  bilateral  contacts  with  Member  States  and  the
notification  procedure  gave  the  Commission  services  an  opportunity  to  thoroughly  analyse
and comment on the draft laws prior to their final adoption. This appeared to be a successful
means of improving the quality of national transpositions.

3.3.

Follow-up to transposition

According  to  the  Commission's  preliminary  evaluation,  transposition  of  the  Directive  is,  in
general, satisfactory. Nevertheless, analysis of the final laws as adopted by the Member States
will need to continue in 2004. The preliminary analysis indicates that one or two adopted laws
contain problems  related, in particular, to the  transposition  of  the  provisions  concerning  the
liability of internet intermediaries. Before taking any formal steps, the Commission  services
intend to launch a dialogue with the Member States concerned to discuss the different options
for solving these problems.

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

Germany  was  the  only  Member  State  which  had  already  set  up  a  horizontal  legal  framework  at  the
national level prior to the adoption of the Directive, by virtue of the Teleservices Act (Teledienstegesetz
vom 22. Juli 1997).
Consistent with Article 9.
Spain, Austria, and Portugal (see the liability section below for further details).
Finland  has  a  copyright-specific  notice  and  take  down  procedure  laid  down  by  law  (as  does  EEA-
country Iceland).
Spain and Portugal.
France.
Spain.
France and Luxembourg.
E.g., Spain, Austria, Luxembourg, and EEA-country  Liechtenstein excluded gambling  from the scope
of  the  Internal  Market  principle  only,  with  the  effect  that  other  parts  of  the  national  transposing
measures apply fully to the provision of online gambling services.
Directive  98/34/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  22  June  1998  laying  down  a
procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations, OJ L 204,
21.7.1998, p. 37, as modified by Directive 98/48/EC, OJ L 217, 5.8.1998, p. 18.

7

                                                
4.

APPLICATION OF THE DIRECTIVE

4.1.

Internal Market

The  borderless  nature  of  e-commerce  required  that  the  legal  framework  put  in  place  for  its
operation had to provide legal certainty to both business and consumers. This legal certainty is
brought  about,  along  with other flanking measures, by the  core  feature  of the  Directive, the
Internal Market clause.

This provision takes the form of two complementary features: each Member State must ensure
that a provider  of  information society services established on  its  territory  complies  with  the
national  provisions  applicable  in  that  Member State  which  fall  within  the  "coordinated
field"36,  even  when  he  provides  services  in  another  Member  State;  in  turn,  Member States
may  not,  for  reasons  falling  within  the  co-ordinated  field,  restrict  the  freedom  to  provide
information society services from another Member State.

The  Internal  Market  clause  is  subject  to  some  limited  derogations  which  are  set  out  in  the
Annex to the Directive. There is also a case by case derogation to the Internal Market clause
which Member States may use to take measures, such as sanctions or injunctions, to restrict
the provision of a particular online service from another Member State where there is a need
to  protect  certain  identified  interests,  e.g.  consumers.37  Any  measures  taken  by  a  Member
State relying on this provision are subject to strict conditions under Article 3(4)-(6).

Contrary to  the  expectations of some Member States that they would have  frequent  need  to
use this derogation, to date this has not been the case. The Commission has received only 5
formal notifications, all coming from the same Member State and all dealing with essentially
the same problem (i.e. the fraudulent use of premium rate numbers), two of which made use
of  the  'emergency'  procedure  provided  for  by  Article  3(5).38  In  May  2003,  the  Commission
issued a Communication on the application to financial services of Article 3(4) to (6) of the
Electronic Commerce Directive39 providing guidance on the application of this case by case
derogation in the area of financial services. This guidance followed expressions of concern by
a  number  of  Member  States  regarding  a  full  application  of  the  Internal  Market  clause  to
financial  services  pending  closer  convergence  in  certain  financial  services  areas.  The
Communication  explains  in  what  limited  circumstances40  a  Member  State  which  considers
that consumers on its territory should be protected against a particular online financial service,
may take measures against that particular incoming financial service following notification to

36

37

38

39

40

I.e., requirements laid down in Member States' legal systems applicable to information society service
providers  or  information  society  services,  regardless  of  whether  they  are  of  a  general  nature  or
specifically designed for them, Art. 2(h).
The Article 3(4)-(6) derogation.
In  a  further  case,  the  authorities  of  a  Member  State  successfully  took  action  to  enforce  their  law
transposing  the  Directive  against  a  service  provider  established  on  their  territory  as  a  result  of  being
requested to take appropriate action under national law by the authorities of another Member State. This
action was taken pursuant to the co-operation obligation provided for by Article 3(4)(b), with the result
that the problem was resolved without the Member  State of destination  needing to take any measures
against the service provider.
Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament  and  the  European
Central  Bank.  Application  to  financial  services  of  Article  3(4)  to  (6)  of  the  Electronic  Commerce
Directive, COM(2003) 259 final, 14.5.2003.
These circumstances are the same as for other information society services.

8

                                                
the  Commission.  However,  to  date  there  have  been  no  notifications  from  Member  States
concerning the provision of financial services.41

4.2.

Establishment and information requirements

Since  Article  4(1)  prohibits  Member  States  from  making  the  taking  up  and  pursuit  of  the
activity of an information society service provider subject to prior authorisation (or any other
requirement having equivalent effect), no authorisation scheme exists in any of the Member
States. Those Member States which had considered introducing such schemes in relation to all
or  some  information  society  services  refrained  from  doing  so  and  in  some  cases  abolished
existing  authorisation  requirements.  This  has  ensured  that  establishing  as  an  information
society service provider in a Member State is easy and not subject to bureaucratic hurdles.

By  contrast,  Article  5  ensures  transparency  and  better  information  regarding  a  service
provider's identity and place of establishment. It requires, amongst other things, that the name
of  the  service  provider,  his  geographic  address,  details  permitting  his  rapid  contact,  and
relevant  entries  in  trade  or  similar  registers,  are  provided.  This  Article  has  been  transposed
almost literally by most of the Member States and the EEA countries.

There  seems  to  be  a  certain  lack  of  awareness  regarding  these  information  requirements
amongst  internet  operators  in  the  EU.  However,  information  society  service  providers  in
general  responded  promptly  and  positively  when  shortcomings  in  the  fulfilment  of  the
Directive’s information requirements were pointed out to them.42 Member States will need to
increase  awareness  of  these  requirements  in  order  to  make  sure  that  businesses  adapt  their
websites accordingly.

4.3.

Commercial communications

The ability of a firm to advertise its services or products on the internet has several important
effects:  it  not  only  provides  an  excellent  medium  for  firms  of  any  size  to  make  themselves
known  and  provides  a  major  source  of  revenue  for  many  information  society  service
providers, but importantly, also constitutes an excellent source of information for consumers.

The  Directive  supplements  existing  Directives  in  the  field  of  consumer  protection43  by,  for
example,  adding  to  the  transparency  requirements  in  Community  law  with  which  online

41

42

43

In  his  report  to  the  European  Parliament  on  the  Commission  Communication  on  e-commerce  and
Financial services (COM(2001) 66 final, 7.2.2001), Christopher Huhne stressed the importance of a full
application  of  the  internal  market  clause  to  the  area  of  financial  services,  given  that  area’s  particular
suitability  for  cross  border  delivery,  and  also  stressed  the  opportunities  and  benefits  brought  by  the
application of the Internal Market principle to e-commerce in Europe.
Results of a sampling of websites carried out by VZBV (Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband - German
association  of  consumer  organisations)  between  October  2002  and  February  2003,  see
http://www.vzbv.de/home/start/index.php?page=themen&bereichs_id=5&themen_id=20&mit_id=164
&task=mit.
See  also  a  study  carried  out  by  the  European  Consumer  Centres,  "Realities  of  the  European  online
marketplace",  available  at  http://www.iia.ie/downloads/eec_report.pdf,  with  a 
the
implementation  of  the  information  requirements  pursuant  to  Directive  97/7/EC  of  the  European
Parliament and of the  Council of 20 May  1997  on  the  protection  of  consumers  in  respect  of  distance
contracts, OJ L 144, 4.6.1997, p. 19.
E.g.,  Directive  97/7/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20  May  1997  on  the
protection  of  consumers  in  respect  of  distance  contracts,  OJ  L  144,  4.6.1999,  p.  19;  Directive
2002/65/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  23  September  2002  concerning  the
distance marketing of consumer financial services, OJ L 271, 9.10.2002, p. 16; Directive 84/450/EEC

focus  on 

9

                                                
commercial  communications,  including  discounts,  promotional  offers,  competitions  and
games,  must  comply.  These  requirements44  provide  additional  protection  to  consumers  and
enhance their confidence in e-commerce. This will be further complemented by the proposed
Regulation on Sales Promotions45, the proposed Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices46
and the proposed Regulation on Enforcement  Cooperation47; In addition, the  requirement to
clearly identify commercial communications set out in Article 6(a) of the Directive is similar
to  the  one  applicable  to  broadcasting  in  Article  10(1)  of  the  Television  Without  Frontiers
Directive48. Virtually all Member States have transposed Article 6(a) quasi literally.49

The Directive left open to Member States the possibility of allowing or prohibiting unsolicited
commercial communications via e-mail by information society service providers  established
on their territory and limited itself to requiring such unsolicited commercial communications
to be clearly identified.

However,  unsolicited  commercial  communications  have  increasingly  become  a  problem  for
consumers and business alike. Therefore, the issue of unsolicited commercial communications
via e-mail has now been dealt with at Community level by Directive 2002/58/EC on Privacy
and  Electronic  Communications50,  which  allows  the  sending  of  unsolicited  commercial
communications via e-mail only  after prior  consent  by  the  recipient,  when  the  recipient is a
natural  person,  or,  within  an  established  commercial  relationship.  The  Commission  has,  in
addition,  launched  work  on  complementary  measures,  in  particular  as  regards  technical  and
international  aspects  of  unsolicited  commercial  communications.51  In  the  latter  case,  the
Commission  is  focusing  its  efforts  on  international  co-operation  to  fight  unsolicited
commercial communications, as most originate from outside the EU.

4.4.

Regulated professions

The  Directive  obliges  Member  States  to  ensure  that  members  of  regulated  professions  may
use  commercial  communications  online,  subject  to  compliance  with  professional  rules  in
particular relating to the independence, honour and dignity of the profession. This means that
members of regulated professions may provide information to clients via websites, which was

of 10 September 1984 concerning misleading and comparative advertising, OJ L 250, 19.9.1984, p. 17,
as  amended  by  Directive  97/55/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council,  OJ  L  290,
23.10.1997, p. 18; Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts,
OJ L 95, 21.4.1993, p. 29.
see Articles 5 and 6.
COM(2001) 546 final, 2.10.2001, amended proposal COM(2002) 585 final, 25.10.2002.
COM(2003) 356 final, 18.6.2003.
COM(2003) 443 final, 18.7.2003.
Directive  89/552/EEC  on  the  co-ordination  of  certain  provisions  laid  down  by  law,  regulation  or
administrative  action  in  Member  States  concerning  the  pursuit  of  television  broadcasting  activities,
OJ L 298, 17.10.1989, p. 23, amended by Directive 97/36/EC, OJ L 202, 30.7.1997, p. 60, and currently
under review. http://europa.eu.int/comm/avpolicy/regul/twf/newint_en.htm.
Two  Member  States,  France  and  Spain,  have  added  an  obligation  to  mention  the  word  "publicity"  in
commercial communications
Directive 2002/58/EC of the European parliament and of the Council of 12 July  2002  concerning  the
processing  of  personal  data  and  the  protection  of  privacy  in  the  electronic  communications  sector,
OJ L 201,  31.7.2002,  p.  37.  Article  7(2)  of  the  Directive  on  electronic  commerce,  which  applies  to
natural persons only, is now to be interpreted in the light of Directive 2002/58.
For more information see
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/1015|0|RAPID&lg=EN&
display=.

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

10

                                                                                                                                                        
previously not possible in a number of Member States.52 Legislation transposing the Directive
in many Member States explicitly sets down the principle that online advertising is permitted
for the regulated professions under the conditions set out at Article 8(1)53.

Associations representing regulated professions at a European level have responded positively
to  the  call  launched  by  the  Directive  to  develop  codes  of  conduct  relating  to  the  use  of
commercial  communications.  The  accountancy  profession54,  lawyers55,  the  doctors56,
pharmacists57, and real estate agents58 have established codes of conduct at a European level
specifically  designed  to  deal  with  online  commercial  communications.  Some  codes
exclusively address online commercial communications, others cover a  wider range of  web-
based  services.  A  common  thread  to  all  codes  is  the  emphasis  on  the  obligation  to  provide
accurate and truthful information and to refrain from advertising which is 'over commercial'
so as to preserve the dignity and honourability of the profession.

4.5.

Electronic contracting

The Directive contains three provisions on electronic contracts, the most important of which
being the obligation on Member States to ensure that their legal system allows for contracts to
be  concluded  electronically,  see  Article  9(1).  This  provision,  in  effect,  required  Member
States  to  screen  their  national  legislation  to  eliminate  provisions  which  might  hinder  the
electronic conclusion of contracts. Many Member States have introduced into their legislation
a horizontal provision stipulating that contracts concluded by electronic means have the same
legal validity as contracts  concluded by more "traditional" means.59 In particular, as regards
requirements in national law according to which contracts have to be concluded "in writing",
Member  States'  transposition  legislation  clearly  states  that  electronic  contracts  fulfil  such
requirement.60

The  provisions  in  the  Directive  are  complemented  by  Directive  1999/93  on  Electronic
Signatures61,  which  aims  at  ensuring  the  legal  recognition  of  electronic  signatures,  thereby
allowing for functional  equivalence in the conclusion of  contracts  between  traditional  paper
documentation and electronic communications. Essentially, Article 5(1) of Directive 1999/93
gives a "qualified electronic signature" attached to electronic data the same status as a hand-

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

in 

the 

field  of 

(FEE)  and 

liberal  professions 

For a general overview on Member States’ rules on advertising by regulated professions see the study
undertaken  by  the  Institut  für  höhere  Studien,  Wien  for  DG  Competition,  "Economic  impact  of
regulation 
in  different  Member  States",  available  at
http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/publications/publications/#liberal.
Belgium, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Austria, and Portugal in its present draft.
Model  Code  of  Conduct  Governing  On-line  Commercial  Communications  by  Member  Bodies  of  the
Federation  des  Expert  Comptables  Europeens 
their  members,  available  at
http://www.fee.be/secretariat/PDFs/Code%20of%20Conduct%20E-Commerce.pdf.
Electronic Communication and the Internet, available at http://www.ccbe.org/doc/En/e_com_en.pdf.
European  Good  Practice  Guide  for  publicity  relating  to  physicians'  professional  practice  on  the  Net,
available at http://www.cpme.be/adopted/CPME_AD_Brd_160302_6_EN_fr.pdf.
Les 
les  services  pharmaceutiques  en 
http://www.pgeu.org/webdata/docs/01.06.20F%20PGEU11%20code%20de%20conduit.pdf.
Code  of  conduct  for  real  estate  professionals 
http://www.cepi.be.
Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Luxemburg, Finland.
Moreover,  the  Directive  has  brought  about  changes  in  the  national  interpretation  of  'in-writing'
requirements,  for  instance  in  Germany  as  regards  insurance  contracts  and  the  obligation  that  prior
information be given in writing.
Directive  1999/93/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  13  December  1999  on  a
Community framework for electronic signatures, OJ L 13, 19.1.2000, p. 12.

the  field  of  e-commerce,  available  at

indications  du  GPUE  concernant 

ligne,  available  at

in 

11

                                                
written  signature  on  a  paper  document.  Article  5(2)  of  Directive  1999/93  provides  that  an
electronic signature may not be denied legal effect and may not be considered inadmissible as
evidence in legal proceedings solely on the ground that it is in electronic form or that it is not
a "qualified" electronic signature.

Furthermore, Articles 10 and 11 of the Directive, concerning information to be provided about
the electronic conclusion of contracts and the requirement to confirm receipt of an order are
transposed almost literally in national legislation. Feedback from the Member States indicates
that  after  some  phasing  in  and  initial  difficulties,  information  society  service  providers
quickly adapted their websites to comply with those requirements.62

Three  Member  States  have  included  rules  in  their  transposition  legislation  dealing  with  the
actual  moment  of  the  conclusion  of  a  contract.63  In  the  other  Member  States  this  issue  is
governed  by  general  contract  law.  So  far,  no  case  law  has  come  to  the  attention  of  the
Commission  indicating  difficulties  created  by  the  general  contract  law  rules  in  determining
the moment of conclusion of an electronic contract.

4.6.

Liability of internet intermediaries

Articles 12-14 establish precisely defined limitations on the liability of internet intermediaries
providing  services  consisting  of  mere  conduit,  caching  and  hosting.  The  limitations  on
liability  in  the  Directive  apply  to  certain  clearly  delimited  activities  carried  out  by  internet
intermediaries,  rather  than  to  categories  of  service  providers  or  types  of  information.64  The
limitations on  liability provided  for  by the  Directive  are  established  in  a  horizontal  manner,
meaning  that  they  cover  liability,  both  civil  and  criminal,  for  all  types  of  illegal  activities
initiated by third parties.

The Directive does not affect the liability of the person who is at the source of the content nor
does it affect the liability of intermediaries in cases which are not covered by the limitations
defined  in  the  Directive.  Furthermore,  the  Directive  does  not  affect  the  possibility  of  a
national court or administrative authority to require a service provider to terminate or prevent
an infringement.65 These questions are subject to the national law of the Member States.

The  limitations  on  the  liability  of  intermediaries  in  the  Directive  were  considered
indispensable to ensuring both the provision of basic services which safeguard the continued

62

63

64

65

A sampling of e-commerce websites taken in April 2002 in one Member State showed that already four
out  of  five  websites  complied  with  the  information  requirements  imposed  by  the  national  legislation
although  it  only  had  been  in  force  for  two  months.  A  sampling  in  another  Member  State  between
October 2002 and February 2003 revealed certain deficiencies  in the information  provided  and  in  the
availability of technical means to correct input errors. However, the service providers who were made
aware  of  problems  in  their  web  appearance  promptly  reacted  to  adapt  their  websites  to  the  legal
requirements, 
see
http://www.vzbv.de/home/start/index.php?page=themen&bereichs_id=5&themen_id=20&mit_id=164
&task=mit.
France,  Luxemburg  and  Portugal  (the  latter  clarifying  that  the  acknowledgement  of  receipt  does  not
necessarily determine the moment of conclusion of the contract).
In particular, the limitation on liability for hosting in Article 14 covers different scenarios in which third
party content is stored, apart from the hosting of web-sites, for example, also bulletin boards or 'chat-
rooms'.
Nevertheless, a scenario in which large scale use is made of injunctions as part of a general policy to
fight  against  illegal  content  rather  than  being  used  against  a  specific  infringement,  may  raise  certain
concerns. For example, in 2002, the authorities of North Rhine-Westphalia ordered around 90 internet
access providers to block access to a number of specified sites.

12

                                                
free flow of information in  the network and  the provision of a framework which  allows  the
internet  and  e-commerce  to  develop.  Different  approaches  in  the  legislation  and  case  law
emerging  from  Member States and  the  resulting  legal  uncertainty  for  cross-border  activities
gave  rise  to  the  risk  of  obstacles  to  the  free  provision  of  cross-border  services.  However,
Community-level  action  was  limited  to  what  was  deemed  necessary  to  prevent  such  a  risk
materialising.66

Articles  12-14  provide,  in  a  harmonised  manner,  for  situations  in  which  the  intermediaries
mentioned  in  these  Articles  cannot  be  held  liable  and  Member  States  may  not  create
additional conditions to be satisfied before an intermediary service provider can benefit from
a  limitation  on  liability.  It  appears  that  the  Member  States  have,  in  general,  transposed
Articles  12-14  correctly.  Many  Member  States  opted  to  transpose  Articles  12-14  quasi
literally.67

In  addition  to  the  matters  dealt  with  by  Articles  12-14,  some  Member  States68  decided  to
provide for  limitations on the liability of providers  of  hyperlinks and  search  engines.69 This
was motivated by the wish to create incentives for investment and innovation and enhance the
development of e-commerce by providing additional legal clarity for service providers. Whilst
it was not considered necessary to cover hyperlinks and search engines in the Directive, the
Commission has encouraged Member States to further develop legal security for internet in-
termediaries.  It  is  encouraging  that  recent  case-law  in  the  Member  States  recognizes  the
importance  of  linking  and  search  engines  to  the  functioning  of  the  internet.  In  general,  this
case-law appears to  be  in  line  with  the  Internal  Market  objective  to  ensure  the  provision  of
basic intermediary services, which promotes the development of the internet and e-commerce.
Consequently, this case-law does not appear to give rise to any Internal Market concerns70.

In  a  few  cases71  national  courts  have  already  interpreted  the  Directive.  However,  in  these
cases, the national implementing  measures of the Directive had  not  yet  been  adopted  in  the
States concerned.

There  is  still  very  little  practical  experience  on  the  application  of  Articles  12-14,  but  the
feedback received so far from the Member States and interested parties has, in general, been
positive. The approach taken in the Directive  appears to have wide reaching support among
stakeholders.  In  any  case  the  Commission  will,  in  accordance  with  Article  21,  continue  to

66

67

68

69

70

71

These conclusions were based on careful analysis of existing rules and emerging case law, including a
study  on  "Existing  rules  in  Member  States  governing  liability  for  information  society  services"
commissioned by the Commission from Deloitte & Touche in 1998.
So  far,  the  Commission  services  have  identified,  on  a  preliminary  basis,  1-2  cases,  in  which  the
Member States appear not to have implemented correctly the limitations on liability, but the analysis of
these cases continues.
Spain, Austria and EEA-State Liechtenstein and Portugal in its draft law.
Spain  and  Portugal  have  opted  for  the  model  of  Article  14  both  for  search  engines  and  hyperlinks,
whereas  Austria  and  Liechtenstein  have  opted  for  the  model  of  Article  12  for  search  engines  and  of
Article 14 for hyperlinks.
For  example  in  France  TGI  Paris,  référé,  12  mai  2003,  Lorie  c/M.  G.S.  et  SA  Wanadoo  Portails,  in
Germany  in  the  case  Verlagsgruppe  Handeslblatt  v.  Paperboy,  aus  dem  Bundesgerichtshof  (BGH),
Urteil vom 17. Juli 2003 – I ZR 259/00.
Cases Deutsche Bahn v. XS4ALL, judgement by Gerechtshof te Amsterdam (Court of Appeals), 762/02
SKG,  of  7.11.2002,  and  Deutsche  Bahn  v.  Indymedia,  judgement  by  Rechtbank  Amsterdam  (District
at
Court),  KG 
http://www.rechtspraak.nl);  and  Case  Public  Prosecutor  v.  Tele2  in  the  EEA-country  Norway,
judgement by Borgarting  Lagmannsrett (Court  of  Appeals),  02-02539  M/01,  of  27.6.2003.  Tele2  was
acquitted when the public prosecutor dropped charges against it.

the  Netherlands 

(judgements 

20.6.2002, 

available 

02/1073, 

of 

in 

13

                                                
monitor  and  rigorously  analyse  any  new  developments,  including  national  legislation,  case-
law and administrative practices related to intermediary liability and will examine any future
need to adapt the present framework in the light of these developments, for instance the need
of additional limitations on liability for other activities such as the provision of hyperlinks and
search engines.72

Article 15 prevents Member States from imposing on internet intermediaries, with respect to
activities  covered  by  Articles  12-14,  a  general  obligation  to  monitor  the  information  which
they  transmit  or  store  or  a  general  obligation  to  actively  seek  out  facts  or  circumstances
indicating illegal activities. This is important, as general monitoring of  millions  of  sites and
web  pages  would,  in  practical  terms,  be  impossible  and  would  result  in  disproportionate
burdens on intermediaries and higher costs of access to basic services for users.73 However,
Article  15  does  not  prevent  public  authorities  in  the  Member  States  from  imposing  a
monitoring obligation in a specific, clearly defined individual case.

4.7.

Notice and take down procedures

The  conditions  under  which  a  hosting  provider  is  exempted  from  liability,  as  set  out  at
Article 14(1)(b) constitute the basis for the development of notice and take down procedures
for  illegal  and  harmful  information74  by  stake-holders.  Article  14  applies  horizontally  to  all
types of information. At the time when the Directive was adopted, it was decided that notice
and take down procedures should not be  regulated in the Directive itself. Instead Article 16
and Recital 40 expressly encourage self-regulation in this field.75

This approach has also been followed by the Member States in their national laws transposing
the Directive. Out of those Member States which have transposed the Directive, only Finland
has  included  a  legal  provision  setting  out  a  notice  and  take  down  procedure  concerning
copyright  infringements  only.76  All  the  other  Member  States  have  left  this  issue  to  self-
regulation77.

72

73

74

75

76

77

The approach of the Member States who opted to legislate on the hyperlinks and search engines does
not seem to give rise to a risk of  fragmentation of the Internal Market. The Commission is, however,
actively  following  work  in  Member  States  relating  to  liability  issues  such  as  the  fundamental  work
carried out by "Le Forum des droits sur l'Internet" in France, which has published recommendations on
hyperlinks  called  "Hyperliens:  Statut  Juridique",  published  3.3.2003,  and  "Quelle  responsabilité  pour
les  créateurs  d'hyperliens  vers  des  contenus  illicites,  published  23.10.2003,  both  available  at
http://www.foruminternet.org/recommandations/.
In this context, it is important to note that the reports and studies on the effectiveness of blocking and
filtering  applications  appear  to  indicate  that  there  is  not  yet  any  technology  which  could  not  be
circumvented  and  provide  full  effectiveness  in  blocking  or  filtering  illegal  and  harmful  information
whilst at the same time avoiding blocking entirely legal information resulting in violations of freedom
of speech.
Mechanisms  run  by  interested  parties  aimed  at  identifying  illegal  information  hosted  on  the  network
and at facilitating its rapid removal.
The European Parliament, when adopting the Directive in 2000, invited the Commission to encourage
the  establishment  of  efficient  notice  and  take  down  procedures  by  interested  parties.  European
Parliament legislative resolution on the Council common position for adopting a European Parliament
and Council Directive on certain legal aspects of Information Society services, in particular electronic
commerce, in the Internal Market, 4.5.2000, OJ C 041, 7.2.2001, p. 38.
Amongst the EEA countries, Iceland has also set out a statutory notice and take down procedure.
Belgium  has  set  up  a  horizontal  co-regulatory  procedure:  Cooperation  Protocol  between  the  Belgian
administration 
Providers,
Association 
http://www.ispa.be/en/c040201.html

Belgian 

internet 

Service 

and 

the 

of 

14

                                                
In  accordance  with  Article  21(2),  which  requires  the  Commission  to  analyse  the  need  for
proposals  concerning  notice  and  take  down  procedures,  the  Commission  has  actively
encouraged stakeholders to develop notice and take down procedures and has systematically
collected  and  analysed  information  about  emerging  procedures.78  The  Commission  has
participated in European and international fora where notice and take down procedures have
been discussed: in particular, in the Global Business Dialogue79, in the workshops organised
by  the  European  Parliamentarians  Internet  Group  (e-Ping)80,  and  in  the  Rights  Watch
Project81.  It  has  also  encouraged Member States  to  actively  work with  stakeholders  and  has
cooperated  with  the  Spanish  presidency,  which  held  discussions  with  Member  States  in  the
information society working group of the Council.

The  Council  Recommendation  on  the  protection  of  minors  and  human  dignity82  adopted  in
1998  is  the  first  legal  instrument  at  EU  level  concerning  the  content  of  audiovisual  and
information services  made  available  on the  internet.  The Recommendation offers  guidelines
for the development of national self-regulation regarding the protection of minors and human
dignity. In particular, it requests internet service providers to develop codes of good conduct
so as to better apply current legislation.83

The Commission  has also been  working,  in  the  context of  its  Safer  Internet  Action  Plan,  to
combat illegal and harmful content on global networks.84 Directive 2001/29/EC on copyright

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

Different procedures have been analysed and several companies and organisations have been consulted
in  the  Member  States,  e.g.,  the  Complainants  Bureau  for  Discrimination  on  the  Internet  in  the
Netherlands;  XS4ALL  (The  Netherlands);  Telefónica  (Spain);  Nokia  (Finland);  Telia  (Sweden),  BT
online  (UK);  Internet  Watch  Foundation  (UK);  eBay;  The  European  Internet  Services  Association
(Euroispa);  The  European  Federation  for  the  Interactive  Software  Industry;  and  the  Motion  Pictures
Association of America.
Work in the Global Business Dialogue (GBDe) has been followed closely by the Commission through
contact  with  the  principal  companies  involved.  The  GBDe  issued  a  Recommendation  in  September
2000 on a specific model for a notice and take down procedure for intellectual property rights. With the
encouragement  of  the  Commission  the  GBDe  created  in  2002  a  task  force  on  Combating  Harmful
Internet Content with the purpose of addressing notice and take down  for other harmful content. This
task  force  issued  a  Recommendation  on  October  2002  containing  suggestions  address  to  internet
intermediaries  and  to  the  public  authorities  on  how  to  develop  "processes  for  dealing  with  harmful
content in the internet", http://www.gbde.org.
Http://www.eping.org.
The Rights Watch Project is a research project financed by the Commission through its 5th Framework
Program  for Research. The project was created in order to set up a fully  functioning  pilot  that  would
facilitate  a  pan  European  self  regulatory  procedure  for  the  removal  of  material  infringing  intellectual
property  rights.  It  has  been  the  only  initiative  so  far  at  European  level  on  notice  and  take-down.
Representatives from the Commission have been present all along the negotiations of the project and, in
particular, by  participating  in  the  two  fora  that  the  project  has  held,  where  internet  service  providers,
right holders and users associations were represented, http://www.rightswatch.com.
Council  Recommendation  of  24  September  1998  on  the  development  of  the  competitiveness  of  the
European  audiovisual  and  information  services  industry  by  promoting  national  frameworks  aimed  at
achieving a comparable and effective level of protection of minors and human dignity (98/560/EC), OJ
L 270, 7.10.1998, p. 48.
The implementation of the Recommendation was evaluated for the  first time in 2000/2001.The report
on the application of this Recommendation published in 2001 (COM(2001)106 final) showed that the
application  of  the  Recommendation  was  already  then  overall  quite  satisfactory.  The  Commission  is
working on a second report on the implementation of the Recommendation, whose adoption is foreseen
at the end of 2003 on the basis of a questionnaire, which was sent to both the Member States and the
acceding  States.  The  objective  of  the  new  report  is  to  establish  what  progress  has  been  made  in
comparison to the situation in 2000, when the data was collected for the first application report.
Safer Internet Action Plan, OJ L 33, 6.2.1999, p. 1, and its follow-up , Decision No 1151/2003/EC of
16 June 2003, OJ L 162, 1.7.2003, p.1.

15

                                                
and  related  rights85  requires  Member  States  to  ensure  that  rightholders  are  in  a  position  to
apply for injunctions, under certain conditions, against intermediaries whose services are used
by  a  third  party  to  infringe  a  copyright  or  related  right.  The  Commission  also  presented  a
proposal  on  the  enforcement  of  intellectual  property  rights,  which,  amongst  other  issues,
provides for appropriate remedies with respect to internet-related infringements of intellectual
property, including injunctive relief.86

Intermediary  service  providers  have,  themselves,  in  cooperation  with  national  authorities  as
well as with other stakeholders, such as IP rightholders, been active in fighting against illegal
activity  on  the  internet,  whilst  also  seeking  to  ensure  a  balance  between  the  legitimate
interests  of  users,  other  interested  parties,  and  the  freedom  of  speech.  In  this  regard,
intermediary service providers have been instrumental in the production of national codes of
conduct  for  internet  service  providers87,  some  of  which  have  also  been  notified  to  the
Commission88.

Analysis of work on notice and take down procedures shows that though a consensus is still
some way off, agreement would appear to have been reached among stake holders as regards
the essential elements which should be taken into consideration. Although some further work
among  stake  holders  seems  to  be  necessary  to  clarify  a  number  of  outstanding  issues,  the
Commission at this stage does not see any need for a legislative initiative.

4.8.

Codes of conduct and out-of-court dispute settlement

The  Directive  calls  on  trade,  professional,  and  consumer  associations  to  contribute  to
developing  a  reliable  and  flexible  framework  for  e-commerce  by  drawing  up  codes  of
conduct.  Very  often  such  codes  are  associated  with  what  are  termed  'trustmark  schemes'  or
'labels'.89 Several associations have established sector specific codes and trustmark schemes at
European  level90  and  many  more  codes  exist  at  a  national  level91.  However,  it  appears  that

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

Directive  2001/29/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  22  May  2001  on  the
harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society, OJ  L  167,
22.6.2001, p. 10
Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures and procedures to
ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights, COM(2003) 46 final, 30.1.2003. Article 2 of the
proposed Directive states that it shall not affect Directive 2000/31/EC.
EuroISPA's members' codes of conduct, available at http://www.euroispa.org.
For example the Code of Practice and Ethics by the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland,
http://www.ispai.ie.
BEUC,  the  European  Consumer  Organisation,  and  UNICE,  the  European  Industry  and  Employer's
association, reached an agreement on principles for such trustmark schemes which takes up many of the
requirements  set  out  in  the  Directive  and  deals  with  codes  of  conduct  regarding  information  to  be
provided,  procedures  for  placing  of  orders,  and  the  like.  The  agreement  can  be  found  at:
http://212.3.246.118/1/PEDMMGECEFLNDAPDCIBCDIKLPDBY9DAWW69LTE4Q/UNICE/docs/
DLS/2002-03813-E.pdf.
The European Commission had initiated and financed work to develop a horizontal European trustmark
scheme incorporating a  code  of  conduct,  called  "Webtrader",  a project  co-financed  by  DG  Enterprise
from  2000  until  February  2003,  see  http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ict/policy/webtrader.htm.
However, no agreement on a horizontal, cross-sectorial code could be reached between the participants.
E.g., for the insurance sector: http://www.cea.assur.org/cea/publ/download/article149.pdf;
for  direct  marketing:  http://www.fedma.org/img/db/Code_of_conduct_for_e-commerce.pdf;  and  for  e-
commerce retailers: http://www.euro-label.com/euro-label/ControllerServlet.
E.g., "Chamber-Trust + Web-Trader" in Belgium (http://194.78.225.199/fr/index.html); "TrustedShops"
in  Germany  (http://www.trustedshops.de/de/home);  "l@belsite"  in  France  (http://www.labelsite.org);
"e-commerce  Gütezeichen" 
the  UK
(http://www.bbbonline.org).

in  Austria  (http://www.guetezeichen.at);  "bbbonline" 

in 

16

                                                
after  an  initial  boom  in  the  establishment  of  trustmarks  and  labels  immediately  following
adoption  of  the  Directive  in  2000  and  2001,  activity  in  this  area  slowed  down.92  The
Commission therefore appeals to business and consumer organisations as well as to Member
States to continue to actively support and promote initiatives in this area.

In B2B e-commerce, the Commission has already established an expert group to promote the
elaboration  of  codes  of  conduct  in  B2B  internet  trading  platforms.  The  expert  group  has
prepared a report with a checklist for the assessment of such codes.93

The increase in opportunities and geographical reach brought about by e-commerce also gives
rise to a risk of cross border disputes between trading partners. It is in such cases crucial that
access to rapid and flexible out-of-court dispute resolution schemes exists. For this reason, the
Directive  both  obliges  Member  States  to  allow  for  the  development  of  out-of-court  dispute
settlement  mechanisms  by  electronic  means  and  encourages  the  development  of  such
schemes.  In  recent  years  a  wealth  of  out  of  court  dispute  resolution  initiatives,  often  in
connection  with  codes  of  conduct,  has  appeared.94  The  Commission  has  supported  the
development of such schemes and continues to do so.95

4.9.

National e-commerce contact points

Pursuant  to  Article  19,  since  transposition  of  the  Directive  the  Commission  has  worked
actively together with the Member States to ensure the setting up of national contact points for
e-commerce. These contact points will improve the cooperation between the Member States
(Article  19(2)  regarding  contact  points  for  cooperation  between  the  Member  States)  and
ensure that consumers and business have access to general information on e-commerce issues
relevant  to  the  application  of  the  Directive  and  details  of  authorities  and  other  bodies
providing  further  information  and  assistance,  (Article  19(4)  regarding  contact  points  for
consumers and business). A list of these contact points and contact details are available on the
e-commerce website of the Internal Market Directorate General.96

92

93

94

95

96

of 

the 

the 

Plan 

from 

final, 

under 

trading 

Internet 

on  B2B 

19.4.2002, 

Internet  Action 

the  Expert  Group 

European  Commission 

This might also be a direct consequence of the general downturn in the e-economy.
Report 
platforms.  Final  Report
(http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/ict/policy/b2b/wshop/fin-report.pdf). To further promote the work
of the expert group, the Commission will prepare a Communication on fair trade in B2B.
See,  e.g.,  the  overview  by  the  Centre  for  Socio-Legal  Studies  at  Oxford  University,  established  with
funding 
at
http://www.selfregulation.info/cocon/coc-reviss03-dwc-020510.htm.  See  also  more  generally  on  ADR
the  Commission's  Green  paper  on  alternative  dispute  resolution  in  civil  and  commercial  law,
COM(2002) 
http://europa.eu.int/eur-
196 
lex/en/com/gpr/2002/com2002_0196en01.pdf.
ECODIR, for instance, is a pilot project carried out by a consortium of university partners and financed
by  the  Commission.  Until  June  2003  it  has  provided  an  easily  accessible  online  system  for  the
resolution of disputes between consumers and e-commerce businesses. It is now in the process of being
evaluated  with  a  view  to  its  continuation.  See  http://www.ecodir.org/about_us/index.htm.  The  IST
project  (IST-2000-25464)  "E-Arbitration"  (Electronic  Arbitration  Tribunal)  provides  an  alternative
dispute  resolution  system  for  SMEs.  It  defines  the  technological  requirements,  the  necessary
infrastructure  and  the  regulatory  framework  for  establishing  and  coordinating  an  internationally
distributed Arbitration Tribunal using networked computers and intelligent multi-agent systems as their
primary means of communication. Project URL: httm://www.e-global.es/arbitration/
With  the  initiatives  EEJ  NET  and  FIN-Net,  although  not  limited  to  e-commerce,  the  Commission,
together  with  Member  States,  has  established  out-of-court  complaints  networks  to  help  business  and
consumers  resolve  disputes  in  the  Internal  Market  quickly  and  efficiently.  More  information  can  be
found at EEJ-Net's website http://www.eejnet.org and at FIN-Net's website http://finnet.jrc.it.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/ecommerce/index.htm.

at 

17

                                                
5.

INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS

5.1.

International developments in e-commerce

Due  to  the  very  nature  of  e-commerce  and  the  internet,  which  do  not  recognise  national
frontiers,  there  is  an  obvious  need  for  the  development  of  some  framework  at  international
level. In this context some of the solutions adopted in the Directive, such as the limitations on
liability  for  internet  intermediaries,  can  serve  as  a  model.  The  Commission  has  actively
worked  to  raise  awareness  of  the  EU's  approach  and  feedback  received  has  been  very
positive.97

The economic downturn experienced in recent years in the area of e-commerce and the "new
economy"  has  obviously  had  repercussions  on  a  global  scale  and  led  to  a  stagnation  in
discussions.  With  the  recent  recovery  of  e-commerce  a  revived  interest  in  international
dialogue  and  cooperation  can  be  expected.  The  Commission  will  continue  and,  where
possible,  increase  its  involvement  in  various  multilateral  and  bilateral  fora  and  will  work
towards a global e-business friendly environment.

Among  the  international  fora  in  which  the  Commission  is  present  are  the  World  Trade
Organization's  work  programme  on  e-commerce98, 
the  Organisation  for  Economic
Co-operation and Development's (OECD) work on broadband issues and consumer protection
in cross-border commerce, particularly as regards the internet99, the Council of Europe's work
on  information  and  cooperation  on  information  society  issues100,  as  well  as  its  work  on
cybercrime, impact of the new technologies on human rights, conditional access services, and
data  protection101,  the  G8's  work  on  safety  and  security  on  the  internet  and  the  World
Intellectual  Property  Organisation's  (WIPO)  work  on  the  protection  of  intellectual  property
rights on the internet102. Work on electronic contracts is furthermore carried out by the United
Nations  Commission  on  International  Trade  Law  (UNCITRAL)103.  Moreover, 
the

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

An  example  of  successful  "model  character"  of  the  Directive  is  the  South  African  Electronic
Communications  and  Transactions  Act  25  of  2002,  which  closely  follows  the  Directive  as  regards
intermediary liability (Articles 12-15), Government Gazette of the Republic of South Africa, Vol. 446,
Cape Town, 2 August 2002, No. 23708.
In  1998,  the  WTO  had  already  developed  a  Work  Programme  on  Electronic  Commerce  (available  at
http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/ecom_e/ecom_e.htm),  although  the  follow-up  to  the  Programme
did not fulfil all the expectations it had raised. At present, specific e-commerce issues are discussed at
'dedicated meetings' of the General Council, focusing on the question of how to classify electronic de-
liveries. The European Commission along with the EU Member States and many other WTO members
promotes the view that electronic deliveries constitute services and thus come under the existing GATS
regime.
See http://www.oecd.org, topic "Electronic commerce".
On 4.10.2001 the Council of Europe adopted the Convention 180 on information and legal cooperation
on Information Society services, modelled on Directive 98/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 22 June 1998 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of tech-
nical  standards  and  regulations  and  of  rules  on  Information  Society  services,  OJ  L  204,  21.7.1998,
p. 37,  as  amended  by  Directive  98/48/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  20  July
1998,  OJ  L  217,  5.8.1998,  p.  18,  its  definition  of  information  society  services  being  exactly  the  one
provided in the Directive. The Commission has formally proposed to the EU Council to adhere to the
Convention on behalf of the EU, COM(2003) 398 final, 7.7.2003.
See http://www.coe.int, of particular interest is the Convention on Cybercrime, ETS no. 185, which is
available at http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/CadreListeTraites.htm.
See http://ecommerce.wipo.int/primer/index.html.
See  http://www.uncitral.org.  UNCITRAL  has  already  done  fundamental  work  in  e-commerce  by
adopting,  in  1996,  a  Model  Law  on  Electronic  Commerce  with  Guide  to  Enactment  and  in  2001  a
Model Law on Electronic Signatures, which are frequently referred to in international contexts.

18

                                                
Commission is actively involved in cooperation in the context of the Asia-Europe Meeting104
Trade  Facilitation  Action  Plan  on  e-commerce105.  This  involves  recommendations  on  e-
commerce regulation adopted in September 2002.106

The  importance  of  non-governmental  fora  such  as  the  Global  Business  Dialogue  in
e-commerce (GBDe), Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), and Transatlantic Business
Dialogue  (TABD)  in  e-commerce  should  not  be  underestimated.107  These  fora  issue
recommendations  to  governments  and  develop  standards  for  business  on  issues  such  as
intermediary liability (GBDe108), consumer protection in e-commerce  (TACD109) and digital
trade  (TABD110).  Such  initiatives  are  of  particular  importance  in  the  quickly  evolving  and
innovative  area  of  e-commerce  as  they  can  address  the  latest  developments  with  greater
rapidity and flexibility than governmental fora.

Finally,  the  Commission  is  involved  in  a  number  of  bilateral  regulatory  dialogues  on
e-commerce  related  to  information  society  issues,  in  order  to  promote  the  Directive's
regulatory  approach  and  to  work  towards  consistency  at  international  level.  These  bilateral
dialogues include the EU/US  Information Society Dialogue, the cooperation with Canada in
the  context  of  Canada-EU  Trade  and  Investment  Sub-Committee  (TISC),  including  an
e-commerce work plan in 1999, the EU-Japan dialogue, the EU-Mercosur regulatory dialogue
and the dialogue with the Mediterranean countries.

5.2.

Enlargement

A number of accession countries have already transposed the Directive111, although in some
cases only partially. Out of the three112 candidate countries only Romania has transposed the
Directive.  The  Commission  is  actively  working  with  the  remaining  countries  to  ensure
transposition in due course.

6.

EVALUATING THE BENEFITS OF THE DIRECTIVE

Given  the  lack  of  experience  with  the  Directive  it  is  difficult  to  evaluate  its  impact.  When
doing so, it is important to note that information society services are not limited to the mere
buying  and  selling  of  products  and  services  online.  They  also  comprise  online  commercial
communications, online information and entertainment, provision of internet access services,
e-mail, search engines, etc. So far, the only complaints which the Commission services have
received from companies engaged in cross-border online activities concern matters excluded
from the scope of application of the Directive or from the application of the Internal Market
clause,  such  as  online  gambling113.  This  seems  to  indicate  that  the  Directive  has  otherwise

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

Grouping the EU and 10 Asian ASEM countries.
http://www.ktm.fi/eng/news/asem2002ecom/.
http://www.congrex.fi/asem2002ecom/
http://www.gbde.org, http://www.tacd.org, and http://www.tabd.org.
Paris  recommendation  on  liability,  13.9.1999,  Miami  Model  IPR-specific  notice  and  take  down
procedure, 26.10.2000.
In particular doc. no ECOM-27-02 "Resolution on children and e-commerce" and doc no. Internet-20-
02 "Resolution on protecting consumers from fraud and serious deception across borders".
Report of the TABD meeting in Chicago in 2002,
http://www.tabd.org/recommendations/Chicago02.pdf.
Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia.
Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey.
Service providers established in one Member State offering online sports betting are required by other
Member States to bar access by their citizen's to those online services.

19

                                                
succeeded in  providing  an  adequate  legal framework  for  information  society  services  in  the
Internal Market.

The Directive appears to have been successful in reducing court proceedings and hence legal
uncertainty, in particular as regards liability of internet intermediaries. Emerging disparities in
Member  States'  case-law  was  one  of  the  driving  forces,  which  lead  the  Commission  to
propose the Directive. After the adoption of the Directive, no such case-law has come to the
attention of the Commission. Together with the guarantee that internet intermediaries should
not  be  subject  to  burdensome  and  costly  monitoring  obligations,  this  seems  to  have
contributed to ensuring low-cost provision of basic intermediary services.

When  evaluating  the  effects  of  the  Directive,  there  are  certain  indicators  which  are  of
particular interest and which have not yet been used in the present measurements of internet
usage and online activities, which are often wrongly limited to online sales. For instance, the
percentage of internet users searching for online information prior to offline sales, the number
of  cross-border  online  information  searches  as  a  percentage  of  total  online  information
searches, productivity  gains resulting  from  lower information  search  costs  in  the  B2B  field,
and expenditure by enterprises on online advertising.

The completion of the transposition of the Directive in all the Member States is expected by
the end of 2003, two years after the deadline of January 2002 set in the Directive. This will
allow  evaluation  of  the  impact  of  the  Directive  in  more  detail,  in  line  with  the  above-
mentioned indicators in the second report on the application of the Directive due in 2005.

7.

ACTION PLAN FOR THE FOLLOW-UP OF THE DIRECTIVE

7.1.

Ensure the correct application of the Directive

The Commission will continue to closely monitor application of the Directive in the Member
States,  including  follow-up  and  analysis  of  any  relevant  case-law,  administrative  decisions
and complaints from citizens  and business. Bilateral contacts, which  were  successfully used
during  the  transposition  of  the  Directive,  will  be  maintained  with  the  Member  States,
including  Accession  and  Candidate  Countries,  to  address  specific  problems  and  ensure
continuous  exchange  of  information.  The  notification  procedure  pursuant  to  Directive
98/34/EC114,  which  was  instrumental  in  ensuring  the  correct  and  consistent  transposition  of
the Directive, will be an important tool in ensuring coherence between the Directive and new
national legislative initiatives which affect information society services.

7.2.

Enhance administrative cooperation between Member States

After assisting in the setting-up of contact points for administrative cooperation between the
Member  States,  the  Commission  will  focus  on  ensuring  the  practical  functioning  of
administrative  cooperation  and  the  continuous  exchange  of  information  between  both  the
Commission and the Member States and between the Member States themselves.

114

Directive  98/34/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  22  June  1998  laying  down  a
procedure  for  the  provision  of  information  in  the  field  of  technical  standards  and  regulations  and  of
rules on Information Society services, OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 37, as amended by Directive 98/48/EC of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 July 1998, OJ L 217, 5.8.1998, p. 18.

20

                                                
7.3.

Raise information and awareness with business and citizens

After  ensuring  that  Member  States  have  nominated  contact  points  for  business  and  citizens
pursuant  to  Article  19(4),  the  Commission  will  focus  on  enhancing  close  links  and  a
continuous flow of information between national contact points and business and citizens, in
particular, including information on administrative and judicial decisions and cases of out of
court  dispute  resolution.  In  this  context,  special  attention  will  be  given  to  the  correct
application  of  the  information  requirements  provided  by  the  Directive  and  to  the
dissemination of information concerning applicable codes of conduct and their enforcement.

The Commission is already funding the establishment and operation of an online information
system,  managed  by  a  European  network  of  Euro  Info  Centres,  to  raise  awareness  among
SME's  on  the  legal  aspects  of  e-business  and  to  collect  feedback  on  the  practical  problems
enterprises  are  facing  when  doing  business  electronically  (ELEAS  project).115  This
information  system  will  be  extended  to  the  Accession  and  Candidate  countries  and  will
become operational in early 2004.

7.4.

Monitor policy developments and identify areas for additional action

In  a  number  of  Member  States  new  regulatory  initiatives  are  under  way  in  areas  such  as
online  gambling,  including  online  sports  betting,  e-pharmacies,  or  the  protection  of  minors.
This gives rise to the risk of regulatory fragmentation and/or distortions of competition. The
Commission  will  closely  monitor  these  policy  developments  in  order  to  identify  possible
needs for Community action, which will be considered in the second report on the Directive
in 2005.

As  far  as  online  gambling  is  concerned,  which  is  currently  outside  of  the  scope  of  the
Directive  and,  in  relation  to  which,  the  Commission  has  received  a  number  of  complaints
concerning  cross-border  activities116,  the  Commission  will  initiate  the  appropriate  action  to
deal with these complaints and, in addition, launch a study to provide the information required
to examine the need for and scope of a possible new Community initiative. Furthermore, with
respect to insurance, which is currently outside of the scope of the Internal Market clause of
the Directive, the Commission has launched work with Member States and interested parties
in  order  to  explore  possible  ways  of  bringing  certain  insurance  activities  in  line  with  the
Internal Market clause.

The  Commission  continues  to  monitor  closely  technological  developments  relevant  to
information society services in order to ensure that the regulatory framework provides the best
possible environment for further development of e-commerce.

7.5.

Strengthen international cooperation and regulatory dialogue

Given  the  cross-border  nature  of  e-commerce  and  the  resulting  need  for  international
solutions, the Commission will strengthen its regulatory dialogue with major trading partners
and  its  presence  in  international  fora.  Particular  attention  will  be  given  to  the  creation  of
coherent  rules  at  international  level  on  subjects  such  as  liability  of  internet  intermediaries,

115

116

http://ebusinesslex.net
Regarding Denmark, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, where authorities demanded online gambling
service providers from other Member States to block access to their websites for citizens living in those
states.

21

                                                
including  notice  and  take  down  procedures  for  illegal  content,  electronic  contracts,
information requirements, and the promotion of out of court dispute resolution.

8.

CONCLUSIONS

With the new legal framework for e-commerce created by the Directive being in the process
of being  put into place  in  all  Member States,  it is now  necessary  to  collect  information and
gain experience on how the new framework works in practice.

To  this  end,  the  Commission  has  launched  an  open  consultation  on  legal  problems  in  e-
business with a view to collecting feedback and practical experience from the market and to
identifying  remaining  practical  barriers  or  new  legal  problems  encountered  by  enterprises
when doing e-business.117

The analysis to date has not shown a need to adapt the Directive as yet and, given the lack of
practical experience, a revision of the Directive would in any event be premature. However,
e-commerce is a quickly evolving area, in which legal, technical, and economic developments
need to be constantly monitored and analysed.

This report is a first stage in a continuous process to ensure that Europe stays in the frontline
of development and provides the best possible environment for e-commerce with a maximum
level  of  legal  certainty  both  for  business  and  consumers  whilst  ensuring  a  minimum  of
burdens for business and Member States.

The Commission trusts that this report will be of assistance to Member States in ensuring the
correct  application  of  the  Directive  and  to  citizens  and  business  in  informing  them  of  the
opportunities  and  safeguards  provided  by  the  new  legal  framework.  The  Commission
welcomes feedback on the findings of this report in view of its task of  ensuring  continuous
monitoring of the application of the Directive. 118

The results of the Action Plan in this report will be made public. It will form the basis for the
second report on the application of the Directive due in 2005, which will also address possible
needs for adaptation of the Directive.

117

118

http://europe.eu.int/yourvoice/consultations/index_en.htm.  The  consultation  was  open  until  10
November 2003. The Commission services will analyse the results of the consultation in a Commission
staff working document by January/February 2004 and will discuss them with all relevant stakeholders
at a high-level conference to be organised in April 2004, as foreseen in the e-Europe 2005 Action Plan.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/ecommerce/index.htm.

22

                                                
ANNEX

TRANSPOSITION OF DIRECTIVE 2000/31/EC

1. Member States:

Belgique/
België

Loi sur certains aspects juridiques des services de la société de l'information visés à
l'article  77  de  la  Constitution  –  11  mars  2003/Wet  betreffende  bepaalde  juridische
aspecten van de diensten van de informatiemaatschappif als bedoeld in artikel 77 van
de Grondwet – 11 maart 2003

Loi  sur  certains  aspects  juridiques  des  services  de  la  société  de  l'information  –
11 mars 2003/Wet betreffende bepaalde juridische  aspecten van  de  diensten  van  de
informatiemaatschappij – 11 maart 2003

Moniteur belge du 17.3.2003 p. 12960 et 12963.

http://www.moniteur.be/index_fr.htm

http://www.moniteur.be/index_nl.htm

Danmark

Lov  om  tjenester  i  informationssamfundet,  herunder  visse  aspekter  af  elektronisk
handel; LOV nr 227 af 22/04/2002 (Gældende)

http://www.retsinfo.dk/_GETDOC_/ACCN/A20020022730-REGL

Deutschland

Gezetz 
Geschäftsverkehr (Elektronischer Geschäftsverkehr-Gesetz (EGG)

rechtliche  Rahmenbedingungen 

über 

für 

den  Elektronischen

Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl) 2001 Teil I Nr. 70 vom 20. Dezember 2001, S. 3721

http://www.iid.de/iukdg/EGG/index.html

Mediendienste-Staatsvertrag 
sechsten
Rundfunkänderungsstaatsvertrags  in  Kraft  seit  1.  Juli  2002,  u.a.  im  Gesetz-  und
Verordnungsblatt für das Land Rheinland-Pfalz vom 12. Juni 2002, S. 255

Fassung 

des 

der 

in 

Ελλάδα

ΠΡΟΕ∆ΡΙΚΟ  ∆ΙΑΤΑΓΜΑ  ΥΠ'ΑΡΙΘ.  131  Προσαρµογή  στην  Οδηγία  2000/31  του
Ευρωπαϊκού  Κοινοβουλίου  και  του  Συµβουλίου  σχετικά  µε  ορισµένες  νοµικές
πτυχές  των  υπηρεσιών  της  κοινωνίας  της  πληροφορίας,  ιδίως  του  ηλεκτρονικού
εµπορίου, στην εσωτερική αγορά.

(Οδηγία για το ηλεκτρονικό εµπόριο).

Aρ. Фύλλου 116, 16 Μαΐου 2003, σελ. 1747

[Presidential  Decree  n°.  131  transposing  Directive  2000/31  of  the  European
Parliament and the Council on certain legal aspects of information society services,
in  particular  electronic  commerce,  in  the  Internal  Market  (Directive  on  electronic
commerce)

Official Journal n° 116 of 16 May 2003, p. 1747]

23

España

Ley  34/2002,  de  11  de  julio,  de  servicios  de  la  sociedad  de  la  información  y  de
comercio electrónico

BOE n° 166, 12.7.2002, p. 25388

http://www.setsi.mcyt.es

France

Transposition not yet completed.

Draft  law  notified  to  the  Commission  under  the  Transparency  Directive  (Directive
98/34).  Notification  n°  2003/0127  available  on 
the  Commission's  web-site
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/tris

Ireland

European Communities (Directive 2000/31/EC) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 68/2003
of 24.2.2003)

http://www.entemp.ie/ecd/ebusinfo.htm

Italia

Decreto legislativo 9/04/2003, n. 70

Supplemento  ordinario  alla  Gazzetta  Ufficiale  della  Repubblica  Italiana  –  Serie
Generale – n. 87 del 14/04/2003

http://www.senato.it/parlam/leggi/deleghe/03070dl.htm

Luxembourg

Loi  du  14  août  2000  relative  au  commerce  électronique  modifiant  le  code  civil,  le
nouveau code de procédure civile, le code de commerce, le code pénal et transposant
la  directive  1999/93  relative  à  un  cadre  communautaire  pour  les  signatures
électroniques,  la  directive  relative  à  certains  aspects  juridiques  des  services  de  la
société de l'information, certaines dispositions de la directive 97/7/CEE concernant la
vente à distance des biens et des services autres que les services financiers

Memorial,  Journal  Officiel  du  Grand-Duché  de  Luxembourg,  A  –  N°  96  du
8 septembre 2000, p. 2176

http://www.etat.lu/memorial/memorial/a/2000/a0960809.pdf

Nederland

Transposition not yet completed.

Österreich

152.  Bundesgesetz,  mit  dem  bestimmte  rechtliche  Aspekte  des  elektronischen
Geschäfts-  und  Rechtsverkehrs  geregelt  (E-Commerce-Gesetz  –  ECG)  und  das
Signaturgesetz sowie die Zivilprozessordnung geändert werden

Bundesgesetzblatt 2001 vom 21. Dezember 2001, Teil I S. 1977.

http://bgbl.wzo.at

24

Portugal

Transposition not yet completed.

Draft  law  notified  to  the  Commission  under  the  Transparency  Directive  (Directive
98/34).  Notification  n°  2003/0134  available  on 
the  Commission's  web-site
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/tris

Suomi/Finland Laki N:o 458 tietoyhteiskunnan palvelujen tarjoamisesta, 5.6.2002.

Suomen Säädöskokoelma N:o 458, 11.6.2002, p. 3039.

http://www.finlex.fi/pdf/sk/02/vihko072.pdf

In  addition,  Finland  amended  three  other  acts  as  part  of  the  transposition.  These
(Suomen Säädöskokoelma Nos. 459-61) are also available via the enclosed link.

Sverige

Lag om  elektronisk  handel  och  andra  informationssamhällets  tjänster  av  den  6  juni
2002; SFS 2002:562 av den 14 juni 2002

Electronic  version  accessible  via  http://www.regeringen.se,  but  a  direct  link  is  not
available.

United
Kingdom

The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002

SI n° 2013 of 21.8.2002

http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2002/20022013.htm

implementation 

For  separate 
financial  services  sector:  http://www.hm-
treasury.gov.uk/Documents/Financial_Services/Regulating_Financial_Services/fin_r
sf_edirec.cfm?

in 

2. Countries belonging to the European Economic Area:

Island

Lög um rafræn viðskipti og aðra rafræna þjónustu 2002 nr. 30 16. apríl.

Lagasafn. Uppfært til október 2002. Útgáfa 127B. Prenta í tveimur dálkum.

(Act No 30/2002 on Electronic Commerce and other Electronic Service)

http://www.althingi.is/lagas/127b/2002030.html

Liechstenstein

Gesetz  vom  16.  April  2003  über  den  elektronischen  Geschäftsverkehr
(E-Commerce-Gesetz; ECG)

Liechtensteinisches Landesgesetzblatt 2003, Nr. 133 am 12. Juni 2003

Norge

Lov  2003-05-23  nr  35:  Lov  om  visse  sider  av  elektronisk  handel  og  andre
informasjonssamfunnstjenester (ehandelsloven)

Publisert: I 2003 hefte 7.

http://www.lovdata.no/all/hl-20030523-035.html

25