Laws and regulations

The government of Sweden has proposed a new law that will make it illegal for online shops to sell alcohol to Swedish consumers. The new rules are envisaged to enter into force on 1 January 2018. The law is most likely to go against the EU regulations and the European Union has declined such proposals before. Still it can be bad news for some wine sellers.

Consumers in Europe are still not able to shop online in the European Union without being discriminated against because of their nationality. Online stores across the continent keep refusing customers from other countries, charging higher prices to foreign customers or creating virtual boundaries in some other way.

The European Commission has proposed a plan to improve the VAT rules for cross-border ecommerce in Europe. With this proposal it should be easier for consumers and companies to buy and sell goods and services online.

The European member states today reached a common position on the European Commission's proposal to address geo-blocking and other forms of discrimination. Online stores in Europe are now no longer permitted to offer different prices to customers from other European countries.

Ecommerce Europe is concerned that the proposed one-size-fits-all approach to authentication undertaken by the European Banking Authority won't help the ongoing fight against online fraud. The European ecommerce association thinks it will only damage the European ecommerce sector and opts for a risk-based approach.

The Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom has found evidence online retailers are colluding on online marketplaces such as Amazon. It had warned several ecommerce companies against price fixing. Consumers were offered bad deals due to retailers discussing prices with competitors or agreeing not to undercut them.

The German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (bevh) and German Federal Association of eCommerce (BVOH) have announced a strategic partnership, in order to represent the interests in online trading even more effective.

Manufacturers in Europe have adopted several practices in order to better control the distribution of their products. It happens a lot that products can only be sold by pre-selected authorized sellers or that manufacturers sell their products online directly to consumers. But the European Commission found that manufacturers increasingly use contractual sales restrictions in their distribution agreements and this may harm consumers.

Online food delivery marketplace Takeaway.com has announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering and listing on Euronext Amsterdam. The IPO is expected to take place in the coming weeks and will probably consist of newly issued shares and existing shares held by the current shareholders.

The Brits have voted for Brexit, which means the United Kingdom will withdraw from the European Union. The whole process of withdrawal will probably take two years, but it's certain Brexit will affect the European ecommerce industry. Here's how.

The European Commission has proposed new ecommerce rules which should help European consumers and companies benefit from the Digital Single Market. The plan consists of three measures: tackling geoblocking, making cross-border parcel delivery more affordable and efficient and promoting customer trust.

The Online Dispute Resolution platform, aimed to help online shoppers settling disputes with merchants across Europe, still doesn't offer exactly what it meant to do. The consumer tool was launched officially in February, but still five countries - including big ecommerce markets Germany and France - haven't connected yet.

Running an online marketplace from somewhere in Europe used to be very complex, with all the different tax rules. But since the beginning of last year each company that sells digital goods is forced to collect VAT based on the country of residence of each buyer. This didn't make it easier. A European startup explains why.

The European Commission today presents a proposal which equalizes the guarantee period for consumers who shop online in all member states. If this proposal is accepted, it will be a major change for consumers and retailers in Europe and could really boost cross-border ecommerce.

Next year, all retailers in the European Union need to prominently state that customers can exercise new dispute resolution rights, provide a link to the EU website explaining these rights, and state whether the store opts in or opts out of the EU scheme. Here's what you should know about this alternative dispute resolution.