UK delays E-commerce Directive – as does most of EU

The UK is among twelve of the EU's fifteen Member States which will miss the deadline for implementation of the E-commerce Directive on 17th January 2002. The Department of Trade and Industry has said that it hopes for sympathy from the European Commission.

Only Austria, Germany and Luxembourg have met the implementation deadline. A spokesman for the DTI is quoted by the news site as saying, "We're fully aware that we've missed the deadline. We would hope the Commission is sympathetic."

Last month, the DTI announced that there will be a further consultation before implementation of the Directive in the UK. The DTI said that responses from its initial consultation, which ended on 2nd November 2001, "clearly identified the need for further consultation, in order to clarify the legal framework." The Treasury is launching a separate consultation on implementation of the Directive in the financial services sector.

E-Commerce Minister Douglas Alexander said that the Government "now expects to implement the Directive during the summer."

There are unlikely to be dramatic consequences as a result of the failure to meet the EU's timetable. It is feasible for EU enforcement action to be taken against the UK – but unlikely if the Directive is indeed implemented in the summer. Any such action, if taken, is very unlikely to reach the stage of financial penalties. It is also possible that actions can be taken against the UK Government by aggrieved individuals who feel they have suffered loss as a result of the Government's failure to meet the deadline – but again, this is unlikely.

The Directive includes requirements on matters including:

• The information an on-line service provider must give a consumer;
• The information a consumer must have about the steps to take to conclude a contract on-line;
• The information that must be given about the sender, discounts, offers etc. in on-line advertising;
• Ways to make it easier for internet users to protect themselves from unsolicited e-mail;
• The limitation of intermediate service providers' liability for unlawful information or activities they carry or store; and
• The national law that will apply to a cross-border transaction.