Digital contract rules: amended proposal on sales of goods across the EU

The Commission adopted today an amended proposal to extend the scope of the proposed Directive on online and other distance sales of goods to cover sales of goods offline.The initial proposal on the online sale of goods was presented in December 2015 together with the proposal on the supply of digital content as part of the Commission’s commitment to deliver on its Digital Single Market Strategy. Its aim is to break down the barriers due to differences in contract law which hinder cross-border online trade. The amendments to the proposal follow calls to align the rules applicable to online and offline sales more closely and avoid fragmentation. The Commission had already committed, when adopting the initial proposal, to assess the need of coherent rules on the basis of the analysis of existing consumer legislation. These results were introduced into discussions between the co-legislators. Given the increasing importance of both online and offline sales for consumers and businesses, this amended proposal will ensure that they benefit from on a coherent legal framework across EU borders. The amended proposal will now be transmitted to Parliament and Council to continue the ongoing legislative process. The new proposal is available here.