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[euractiv] The EU is in corrective mode on eCommerce after it created a web of burdensome rules in order to inspire more consumer confidence, argues the author of a report examining European rules on online shopping.

Patrick van Eecke, a specialist lawyer who was asked by the European Commission to examine laws on cross-border eCommerce, has come to some damning conclusions on EU laws designed to streamline the way cross-border online shopping is done.

A recent EU survey on current conditions for both the consumption and sale of online goods across borders concluded Europeans are being turned off the idea by payment difficulties and a lack of trust in online shopping (EurActiv 23/10/09).

60% of online purchases failed in the EU-backed test of 11,000 separate orders on cameras, CDs, books and clothes, the consumer survey showed.

EU rules on eCommerce ‘counter-productive’