12 EU countries miss e-commerce Directive implementation deadline
12 EU Member States have missed the 16 January deadline for implementation of the EU e-commerce Directive, according to the European Commission's Internal Market DG. Only Luxembourg, Austria and Germany adopted laws transposing the Directive in time. Finland, France, Denmark, Spain and Belgium have all officially submitted draft laws to the Commission, as have European Economic Area (EEA) countries Iceland and Norway. Ireland, Sweden, Greece and the Netherlands have all prepared draft laws which have not yet been submitted to the Commission. The UK, Italy and Portugal are all still in the process of drawing up draft laws. The UK has launched a two-pronged consultation process involving the Department of trade and industry and the Treasury. The government feels it is 'too important to rush', UK Minister for e-commerce and competitiveness Douglas Alexander is reported as having said, explaining the delay in the implementation of the Directive. Further consultation is needed on legal aspects of its transposition into national law, he said. France's Minister for industry, Christian Pierret, has stated his intention to finalise the law by early this year. The Directive, which was adopted by the Council on 8 June, includes measures to establish the country of origin principle, limit the liability of online service providers, give legal recognition to electronic contracts and promote self-regulation, transparency measures and out-of-court dispute settlement.