Removing barriers due to contract law differences should bring an overall benefit to the European economy. Over 122,000 EU businesses are expected to start selling to consumers in other Member States; and the total number of consumers buying online from other EU countries could reach up to 70 million. This will open up new markets, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), increase competition and contribute to economic growth: lower consumer prices are expected to boost consumption in the EU by €18 billion and EU GDP is expected to increase by €4 billion from its current level.
Consumers will benefit from a higher level of consumer protection, a wider choice of products at more competitive prices:
- Reversal of the burden of proof:For instance, if an Italian consumer discovers today that a product he/she purchased online more than 6 months ago is defective and asks the seller to repair or replace it, he/she may be asked to prove that this defect existed at the time of delivery. Under the proposed new rules, throughout the two-year guarantee period, the consumer will be able to ask for a remedy without having to prove that the defect existed at the time of delivery.
- Clear and specific rights for digital content: For instance, a consumer who downloads a game which is then not working properly may currently receive as compensation only a discount on downloading other games in the future. With the proposed directive, consumers will be able to request such problems to be fixed and, if this is not feasible or not done properly, to obtain a price reduction or terminate the contract and be fully reimbursed.
For more information
Other useful links
European Digital Single Market Announcement by President Juncker – video
Webpage on the Digital Single Market (#DigitalSingleMarket)
Webpage of Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip (@Ansip_EU)
Webpage of Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Vera Jourova (@VeraJourova)
President Juncker’s political guidelines
Commission Work Programme 2016
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