Abstract
On 8 June 2000 the E-Commerce Directive (‘the Directive’) was adopted by the Council of Ministers. The Directive aims to create the framework for the free movement of e-commerce services throughout the EU. As such it is based on Article 49 of the Treaty of Rome, which provides for the free movement of services. The Directive is significant in that it is only the third piece of legislation to pass through the European Parliament on a second reading without amendments. This was largely due to an alliance of pro-internal market MEPs, including Theresa Villiers. The driving force behind the Directive was the parliamentary raporteur Ana Palacio MEP, who successfully piloted the Directive through the Parliament in the face of strong opposition from more protectionist member states and single-issue consumer protection groups. However, there is currently a backlash against some of the liberalisation measures in the Directive. This is due to the fact that the significance of some of its provisions was not initially fully understood by all of those involved. Now that the full impact of the Directive has become known, a number of attempts are being made to limit its scope, particularly in relation to direct marketing. (See for example the anti-spamming provisions in the draft Directive on Data Protection and Telecommunications, and the report on spamming by the Article 29 Committee of Data Protection Commissioners.)
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Pullen, M., Robinson, J. Legal and Regulatory Update: The E-Commerce Directive and its impact on pan-European interactive marketing. J Direct Data Digit Mark Pract 2, 272–275 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.im.4340099
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.im.4340099