The EU will regulate an integrated logistics market to boost electronic commerce

Barcelona, ​​March 11, 2014.- Below we reproduce the report published by Adigital (Spanish Association of the Digital Economy) about the negotiations in the European Union to close the regulation of the digital economy. Both in the protection of data, cloud computing, logistics, means of payment, returns, etc. In the coming years will reach the figure of 6,000 million active smartphones around the world, so the growth of ecommerce can be spectacular. And in turn, all logistics companies linked to electronic commerce. Another example, The On Line Shop Alibaba already outperforms Amazon + ebay together. At the moment, Adigital has reported:

1. Data Protection
The future Regulation of Data Protection continues on standby, after the regulations in process have been discussed at an informal meeting of Justice and Home Affairs, held on January 23, already under the Greek presidency. In the Council on March 6, this issue was again addressed. Negotiations to achieve a consensus regarding the normative text, for now, do not bear fruit. Ecommerce Europe, European employer of e-commerce that brings together 41 organizations from 35 countries and to which adigital belongs, points out the high probability that the regulation will not be approved in the current mandate, although it is highly unlikely that this legislative initiative will be completely shelved and considers that there is a better chance of resuming the processing and negotiation of the reform from scratch or from some point in the process, after the European Parliament elections in May 2014.

2. Right of consumers and users
The European Commission is monitoring the transposition into the domestic law of the Consumer Rights Directive by the Member States, which must do so before June 2014. In the case of Spain, the draft Law for The Defense of Consumers and Users has just finished its phase of amendments in the parliamentary procedure in Congress.

3. Claims resolution systems
The regulations on ADR (Alternative consumer Dispute Resolutions) and ODR (Online consumer Dispute Resolution) or on extrajudicial alternatives for the resolution of conflicts that affect consumers, pursue the purpose of achieving a common European system at the same level in all Member States. At European level, the ADR Directive and the ODR Regulation came into force in mid-2013. Member States are given a period of two years to transpose the Directive. The ODR platform will be available by the end of 2015.

4. Payment methods
On 28 January, the ECON Committee of the European Parliament proposed amendments to the Payment Services Directive, which, however, is very likely, according to Ecommerce Europe, that it will not go ahead before the elections in May 2014. Also together with this Directive There is the Proposal for the regulation of exchange rates for operations with cards. This directive will allow the entrance of new players in the market of payment services, which will be obliged to comply with high standards of regulation and supervision, as well as other payment institutions. The regulation on payment services will also promote the development of innovative means of payment through mobile and Internet.

5. Electronic signature
In the processing of the Regulation for electronic transactions in the internal market: electronic identification and online trust services, a three-party meeting was held between the Commission, the Parliament and the Council on 28 January, in which they demonstrated the divergences with respect to the date of application and with respect to the issue of liability in case of damages to consumers. The regulation aims to strengthen confidence in electronic transactions in the internal market and ensure mutual cross-border recognition of electronic identification, authentication, signatures and other online trust services.

6. Right to contract
With regard to the proposal of the Common Sales Law Regulation Proposal, the three-way negotiation between the Commission, the Parliament and the Council does not seem to begin in the near future, given that the Council has not yet adopted a general position . Thus, in the Justice and Home Affairs Council of December 5 and 6, it became clear that the Member States are not ready to adopt the content of the Proposal. The main divisions between States revolve around the definition of cross-border or cross-border. This proposal for a Regulation addresses the creation of an optional contractual standard for the entire EU in order to promote growth and lower the cost for companies derived from access to new markets, while offering consumers a wider range of services. products at more competitive prices.

7. Logistics
On December 17, 2013, the European Commission published a Roadmap as an answer or follow-up to the Green Paper on parcel delivery: An integrated market for delivery and logistics for growth of ecommerce). This roadmap is based on other regulatory initiatives such as the Ecommerce Communicaton (2011), the Postal Services Directive, the Consumer Rights Directive, the proposed European Sales Regulation or the roadmap for a single European transport area . A period of 18 months is now open to analyze whether it is necessary to adopt additional measures. For its part, the European Parliament Arias Echevarría has initiated a report for a resolution on the matter as a reaction to the initial Green Paper of the Commission, which was discussed and adopted in the Committee IMCO of the European Parliament, to which the Committee on Employment and Transport Parliament will give their opinion in the first quarter of 2014.

8. Taxation
On the other hand, with regard to the review of the regulation of the taxation of the digital economy in the EU, the group of experts for this matter held its second meeting on January 21, where, among other points, they addressed their own business models. of the digital economy and analyzed where value is created in the chain of the digital economy in order to analyze the most optimal and equitable taxation. The next meeting of the group of experts will take place on March 13 and 14.

9. Cloud Computing
Also, in the field of cloud computing service contracts, a group of experts was created within the framework of the European Commission, which held its first meeting on 19 and 20 November. It is expected that in terms of hiring cloud computing services with SMEs and consumers, a Policy Paper will be prepared for this coming spring and a public consultation will be launched.