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E-commerce Directive
On 8 June 2000, the Directive on Electronic Commerce (2000/31/EC) was adopted, also known as the e-Commerce Directive. The Directive deals with certain legal aspects of information society services in the Internal Market. The Directive refers to gambling services as "games of chance, lotteries and betting transactions, which involve wagering a stake with monetary value".
The Framework Services Directive, adopted in December 2006, introduced a slightly different definition of gambling services, whereby they are defined as "gambling activities which involve wagering a stake with pecuniary value in games of chance, including lotteries, gambling in casinos and betting transactions". This addition is not only linguistically incorrect from a legal point of view (casinos are not gambling services but rather the establishments / premises where gambling services are provided) but it may also lead to confusion as to what falls under the definition of gambling and what does not. However, the European Commission has confirmed that all gambling services (within and outside casinos) are excluded from the scope of the Directive.
Member States implemented the e-Commerce Directive into national law by 17 January 2002.
Article 21 of Directive 2000/31/EC provides that in 2003 and thereafter every two years, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee a report on the application of the Directive accompanied, where necessary, by proposals for adapting it to legal, technical and economic developments in the field of information society services. The Commission's report of 21 November 2003 concluded that the Internal Market objectives of the Directive have been met and that it has provided a sound legal framework for information society services in the Internal Market. It has also led to modernisation of existing national legislation, for example in contract law, to ensure the full validity of online transactions.
The Commission aims to ensure that the Directive is correctly applied and will collect feedback and practical experience from business and consumers alike. These efforts will include continuous monitoring of the application of the Directive in both current and future Member States. With this in mind, the Commission established, on 24 October 2005, an expert group on electronic commerce. The objectives of this group are as follows:
to enhance/facilitate administrative co-operation between Member States and Member States and the Commission
to discuss problems in the application of the directive
to discuss emerging issues in the area of e-commerce
The Members of the Expert Group are, in principle, contact points appointed in line with Article 19 (2) of the e-commerce directive. Since its establishment, the expert group has met three times: 17 November 2005, 6 April 2006 and 20 February 2007.
What next?
The expert group is expected to publish a study on the liability regime for information society and intermediaries in September 2007. Furthermore, a second report on the application of the E-Commerce Directive is due in June 2008.
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| Related EU Updates |
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| SEPTEMBER 2007 |
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The European Parliament adopted the report by MEP Béatrice Patrie (PES, France) on the European Commission's Green Paper on the Review of the Consumer Acquis in Plenary. The European Parliament agreed with the European Commission the need to create a real Internal Consumer Market by simplifying and improving the regulatory framework for professionals and individuals. Concurring with the Rapporteur, MEPs felt that more coherent and modern Community legislation would increase Europeans' legal security and confidence in the Internal Market, based on three factors: the development of online shopping, which has rendered legislation obsolete, inconsistencies in the Community Acquis and "minimal" harmonisation which have led to fragmentation of the legal environment.
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| JANUARY 2007 |
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A Working Group of the Council of the European Union met on 29 January 2007 to discuss the draft Audiovisual Media Services Directive, further to the adoption by the European Parliament of the report by MEP Ruth Hieronymi (EPP-ED, Germany) on 13 December 2006. Gambling services were briefly discussed, and the Group is expected to conclude that specific exclusion is not required as any service whose main purpose does not consist of the provision of audiovisual media content does not fall under the scope of the draft Directive.
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| DECEMBER 2006 |
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The draft Audiovisual Media Services Directive was voted on in the European Parliament during its Plenary session in Strasbourg on 13 December 2006 and gambling services remain excluded from the scope of the Directive.
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| DECEMBER 2003 |
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The European Commission is in the process of examining the need for and scope of a possible new EU initiative in field of eCommerce and online-gambling.
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