European Union directive | |
Title | Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (Directive on electronic commerce) |
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Made under | Articles 47(2), 55 and 95 |
History | |
Entry into force | 8 June 2000 |
Current legislation |
The Electronic Commerce Directive (2000/31/EC) in EU law sets up an Internal Market framework for online services. Its aim is to remove obstacles to cross-border online services in the EU internal market and provide legal certainty for businesses and consumers. It establishes harmonized rules on issues such as the transparency and information requirements for online service providers; commercial communications; and electronic contracts and limitations of liability of intermediary service providers. Finally, the Directive encourages the drawing up of voluntary codes of conduct and includes articles to enhance cooperation between Member States.
There was wide-ranging discussion within EU institutions about how to revise this directive which finally happened with the adoption of the Digital Services Act 2022.[1]