e-Commerce
Online platform regulation: French economy ministry gets up and running
While the European Commission presented its digital strategy last week, France's economy and finance ministry brought together around a hundred experts on Monday (24 February) in an attempt to sketch out ways of regulating online platforms. EURACTIV's partner La Tribune reports.
Should the EU embrace artificial intelligence, or fear it?
Advances in machine learning are progressing rapidly, and governments are struggling to keep up. The EU has emerged as the world’s regulator in this space, but some fear it's stifling European innovation.
We will ‘react as one’, EU tells US over French digital tax dispute
The European Commission wants to settle the latest trade dispute with the US over the French digital tax “amicably”, but warned that the bloc will “react as one” if Washington slaps tariffs on Paris.
Why the EU leads in digital regulation, but lags in digital innovation
In its efforts to harmonise the digital legislation of its 28 countries, the European Union has accidentally become the world’s digital regulator – while ceding ground to other digital innovators.
French minister eager to hold e-commerce platforms to account for VAT fraud
France's minister of public action and accounts, Gérald Darmanin, wants to reform VAT collection for e-commerce platforms. The French minister also wishes to draw inspiration from the EU's tax haven blacklist to establish a similar one for fraudulent platforms. EURACTIV's partner La Tribune reports.
Tech giants under pressure in the US
About twenty US states are worried about the monopolistic tendencies of tech giants, and are close to launching a joint antitrust investigation next month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday (19 August). EURACTIV's partner La Tribune reports.
French investigation shines light on Amazon mass destruction of goods
The global e-commerce giant Amazon has been hit with claims that it has destroyed up to three million unsold products from French warehouses over the past year. The news comes a week after Amazon became the world's most valuable public company in terms of market value.
Updating copyright rules for news: There’s a better way
The EU Copyright directive should avoid making reforms that takes away publishers’ choices about how to distribute and make money with their content online, writes Richard Gingras.
Cryptoasset investors exposed to substantial risks, two EU reports find
Cryptoassets are dangerously unregulated and may give rise to criminal activities, according to two recent assessments published by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
MEPs back fair-play rules for platforms and operating systems
MEPs backed rules to force online platforms to be more transparent and fair to business clients on Thursday (6 December), with some members voicing frustration at the fact that operating systems are to be included in the scope of the regulation.
Ministers adopt position on P2B draft regulation as MEPs tussle over common approach
EU ministers adopted a common approach on the platform-to-business regulation on Thursday (29 November), with progress in the Council contrasting with internal divisions amongst MEPs in the European Parliament.
Visa, Mastercard offer tourist card fee cut in EU antitrust probe
Visa and Mastercard have offered to trim the fees merchants pay on card payments by tourists in the European Union in an attempt to stave off possible fines after a long-running antitrust investigation, people familiar with the matter said.
‘Operating systems’ debate hinders progress on P2B file, MEPs say
Platforms should not be allowed to use their operating systems to "avoid rules" when it comes to the platform-to-business (P2B) regulation, MEPs in European Parliament's Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee said on Wednesday (21 October).
Packaging in e-commerce: Roles, responsibilities, best practice
E-commerce has given shoppers the ability to purchase products on demand and at competitive prices. Educating consumers to reduce, reuse, dispose and recycle packaging from e-commerce goods they receive is a growing priority.
UK takes lead in digital tax standoff but diverts from EU plans
The UK is to roll out a digital services tax (DST) for tech giants from April 2020 in a move that breaks an international stalemate on the subject. The rates, however, differ substantially from the EU’s own DST plans.
EU regulators want to know if merchants hurt by Amazon copies
EU antitrust regulators are asking retailers and manufacturers whether Amazon’s sales of own brand products similar to theirs have harmed their business, a move which could lead to a formal case and possibly fines against the U.S. tech giant.
After attacking Google, Vestager now turns to Amazon
The European Commission suspects the e-commerce giant of using the data it collects from third-party vendors on its marketplace to gain a commercial advantage. An article by our partner, La Tribune.
Chancellor Merkel’s digital gurus
In Germany, a ten-member committee takes up its work to speed up the country's digitization efforts and ask uncomfortable questions. EURACTIV Germany's media partner "Der Tagesspiegel" reports.
GDPR: EU’s new data protection rules come into effect
The European Union's new data protection laws came into effect on Friday (25 May), with Brussels saying the changes will protect consumers from being like "people naked in an aquarium".
Online platforms under fire as EU pushes for transparency on search results
Online platforms ranging from ecommerce retailers like Amazon to search engines including Google will be forced to reveal the criteria they use to display search results, under a new European Commission proposal.
Gabriel: Facebook users ‘need to know what happened with their data’
Facebook users “need to know what happened with their data” following reports over a week ago that millions of profiles on the social media platform were secretly used to help political campaigns, EU Digital Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said.
EU plans to pull ‘free’ digital services under consumer protection rules
EXCLUSIVE / Digital services that collect users’ data, like Facebook and Gmail, will be pulled under EU consumer protection rules as part of a European Commission overhaul due next month. Possible sanctions will be raised to up to 4% of a company's turnover.
OECD report stokes last-minute criticism of EU digital tax plan
The OECD warned on Friday (16 March) against the European Commission’s plan to propose a new tax next week targeting digital companies, arguing that it may cause economic distortion and raise business costs.