EU Said To Ease X-Border Commerce Rules

A new proposal issued from the EU this week would open up doors for cross-border commerce.

As part of wider discussions, the European Commission has unveiled proposals intended to make it easier for consumers to shop across country borders. This involves stopping companies from limiting access to specific websites based on where the shoppers are located.

What that did in return is essentially force consumers to choose shopping sites within their home country. And in some cases, those options weren’t the cheapest.

“In the online world, all too often, consumers are blocked from accessing offers in other countries,” the commission said in a statement, according to Reuters. “Such discrimination has no place in the single market.”

Sites this law would impact include major companies, like Amazon and eBay, and other companies that sell services that are tied to a specific location (car rentals, concert tickets, etc.).

The EU proposal would require approval from the European Parliament before it could go into effect. But if it did go into effect, online retailers could no longer block users based on the location of where they are shopping from.

The European Commission also has its eyes on how it should regulate platform business once again.

This time around, the EU is reviewing if it should implement more policies to prohibit platform businesses from unfair practices. This would apply to companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and eBay.

In the case of how to oversee online platforms, the EU has determined that one law for all platform businesses would not be sufficient but instead said it would curb problems as they arise.

The commission’s proposal also included details for companies that offer online video streaming services, like Netflix and Amazon, to ensure those companies offer European productions for at least a fifth of their offerings. EU states will also have the ability to require streaming services to offer options for their audience.