Liikanen calls for Russian e-commerce legislative conformity
EU Commissioner for Information Society and Enterprise, Erkki Liikanen, welcomed the collaboration between the European Union and Russia in drawing up the latter's e-commerce legislation, but called for more compatibility, on 18 December. Speaking by video link to a Moscow conference organised by the Russian association of networks and services (RANS), Mr Liikanen pointed out that there had been good collaboration, but that differences in authentication and protection elements in Russia's e-commerce legislation should be more technologically neutral and compatible. The EU's approach to authentication has been to use electronic signatures, rather than digital signatures. This is based on the longer validity afforded by this more technologically neutral approach. The EU has also ensured that its Directive covers all information society services, whereas draft Russian law is limited to the conclusion of contracts, covering only people involved in transactions. 'According to our experience, law making is a complex and lengthy process. We recommend that due consideration be given to the differences between the EU Directives and the draft Russian laws described above,' said Mr Liikanen. He went on to express his pleasure that Russia is actively participating in the e-commerce action line in the Northern eDimension action plan and that the eRussia plan is now well developed. He also highlighted what he felt were the key elements of e-commerce regulation: that it should be light, technologically neutral (due to the fast changing nature of the technology concerned) and that legislation should be complemented by self-regulation.