Clear rights in the digital market

The three institutions of the EU, Commission, Council and Parliament, reached an important agreement: The legal rules for the trade of goods and digital content will be modernised.

Sales of goods: The Commission already proposed a new directive for online trade in 2015. It was now decided that this area should not be handled separately. Instead, the existing rules will be adapted in order to be sufficient for both the stationary and the online trade. This will ensure that consumers as well as companies have clear rights and duties, e.g. in relation to legal guarentee.

Find the full text of the new directive here: Directive regarding sales of goods

Digital content: Up until now, there was a lack of regulations regarding contracts between consumers and companies for the supply of digital content. This includes data (e.g. music) ad services (e.g. cloud services), but also goods like CDs and DVDs. The Parliament and Council yesterday agreed to a respective proposal by the Commission, also from 2015, which for example clarifies the rights of a consumer in case of defects of software.

Full text: Directive on the supply of digital content

More information is also provided in the press release of the EU Commission.