EU consumers could soon find it easier to buy products from websites in other member states, if the bloc's executive has its way under a plan unveiled on Wednesday as part of its mission to revive Europe's sluggish growth, dpa. "For many Europeans, e-commerce is already a daily facility we could not do without," the European Union's market regulation commissioner, Michel Barnier, noted in Brussels. "We have there a growth lever." E-commerce currently generates only 3.4 per cent of EU retail sales, while the internet sector represents less than 3 per cent of the bloc's gross domestic product. The European Commission wants to double both by 2015 in a bid to boost not only growth, but also employment. "Annually, 6 trillion euros (7.6 trillion dollars) change hands through global e-commerce. But here in Europe, citizens and businesses are lagging behind," EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said. To help achieve its goal, the commission wants to crank up online sales by removing the hurdles that consumers face for cross-border online purchases - such as high delivery fees and payment problems. "Eliminating these ... barriers will give consumers enormous freedom to shop online in a truly single EU digital market," said John Dalli, the EU commissioner responsible for consumer policy. It also wants to increase trust in online shopping by targeting cybercrime and creating a platform that will help solve disputes between online buyers and sellers. Further developing high-speed internet connections and cloud computing is also planned. In a separate but related move, the commission on Wednesday also launched a public consultation on the obstacles facing a more integrated European market for electronic payments involving cards, the internet and mobile devices. The commission will gather comments until April 2012, with the goal of presenting proposals in the summer. "When you for instance look at payments by cell phone, daily-life examples of what is possible, you can see that Europe is falling behind significantly," Barnier said. "We want to make up this delay."
