The rights of consumers in electronic commerce transactions in the European Union

Abstract

The European Commission has often acknowledged the ever increasing role played by distance selling, in particular electronic commerce, as an essential medium for conducting and completing business transactions within the Internal Market. Nevertheless, the Commission has also realised that this method of distant selling also brings with its fair share of problems in relation to the protection of consumer rights. In the first chapter of this thesis I intend to examine the European Union's legislation in relation to consumer protection in the sphere of distant selling in general, and this would serve as a general introduction to the subject. The second part of the first chapter will then focus specifically on EU legislation on electronic commerce transactions in relation to consumer protection. In the chapters which follow, I intend to conduct a detailed examination of the recent Directive on Electronic Commerce and other related legislation in force. Finally I will be able to assess whether the current legislation offers adequate and sufficient protection to consumers. In particular I would like to examine the following problem areas in some detail: the need for an effective policy on privacy; the need for harmonised community legislation regarding payment; payment by credit cards and consumer access to justice.