E-COMMERCE DIRECTIVE 2000/31/EC

E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC

E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC

Introduction

Internet has definitively changed the relationships of the company with the different business partners of the supply chain. E-Commerce/E-Business is any 'net' business activity that transforms internal and external relationship to create values and exploit market opportunities driven new rules of the connected economy.”(Damanpour 2001). It refers to all forms of business activities conducted across the internet. This can include E-tailing, B2B, intranets and extranets, online advertising (e.g. advertising banners), and simply online presences of any form that are used for some type of communication (customer service for example).  With internet the commerce does not have limits or borders and the e-businesses are negotiated in 'virtual shopping males' and 'board rooms'. This paper deals with the legal issue of the e-commerce in the European Union (EU) notably the contract law applied to the internet. How to constitute a traditional contract via internet without concrete negotiation and face-to-face? How to insure the respect of the procedure and the terms of the contract on-line? Then I analysed the fact that this issue is controversial but also current and how it affects the Supply Chain.

Analysis

The main issue of the e-commerce is contract law applied to internet in the EU supported by the EU Directives 2000/EC. In 2000, “EU attempted to construct a basic framework for the future regulation of e-commerce” (Pappas 2003). The goal of this directive is to develop the internal market in the EU and harmonize the e-commerce by creating common laws defining the terms of contract at least for those EU countries. It is particularly hard to achieve in the EU because there are several different countries and each one has its own law and legislation. Contracting via internet involves some problems and issues such as the validity of a contract in the web, the e-signature, which jurisdiction and law may apply to you and the problem of the taxation. I explored some problems of contracting online.

The article 5 chapter II of the EU directive 2000/EC explains that before contracting, general information about the seller must be provided. “As there is no place to negotiate, a website should make clear where a business is located e.g. by ensuring all main entry and information pages on the site include the company's location” and “give a list of applicable terms and conditions” (Elborne 2000). The seller must provide his name, geographic and electronic address, full price etc. and “where the activity is subject to an authorisation scheme, the particulars of the relevant supervisory authority”². The buyer must have complete information of the service provider and must be able to contact him rapidly. Basically the law of traditional contract must be applied in the same way in the electronic commerce however in internet is to know when and where the contract is formed. The seller should “make clear the procedure that must be followed before the contract is formed” (Elborne 2000). The acceptance of the offeree is very important because without acceptance there is no ...