Electronic commerce in the internal market: legal aspects, protection of consumer

In adopting the report drafted by Ms. Christine ODDY (PES, UK), the European Parliament approved, with some amendments, the Commission's proposal. In particular, the Parliament calls on the Member States to : - provide in their legislation that unsolicited commercial communications by electronic mail has to be identifiable as such; - ensure that consumers cannot receive junk e-mails by subscribing to an 'opt out' register which would need to be monitored regularly; - introduce in their legislation the obligation for providers to inform their customers on data protection in accordance with Directives 95/46/EC and 97/66/EC. The Parliament also emphasises that information society service providers should be in a position to provide the necessary information to pursue and identify suppliers of illegal content. The Directive should also establish the legal conditions to enable complaints to be lodged, both at law and otherwise, across borders and by electronic means. It also insists on the strengthening of co-operation with third countries in the field of electronic commerce, in particular with the European Union's accession candidates and its trans-Atlantic candidates.�