A European directive was adopted in France on Saturday to regulate certain commercial practices. The so-called “Omnibus”, or directive, was adopted by the European Parliament in November 2019. It has been implemented in all EU countries since Saturday.
“Europe is leading in the regulation of e-commerce marketplaces. American companies that operate in Europe will need to follow the example of Europe,” John Hornell, vice-president of Pasabi, which offers authentication solutions for E-Commerce, stated in a note.
The directive was adopted in France by an ordinance in December 2021. The regulations include the requirement that online marketplaces verify that notices under products for sale are issued by those who purchased the product.
If the right to withdraw is not available, they will have to give additional information to the customer, such as the existence or potential capital link between the seller’s marketplace and the seller.
Merchants must also display the reference price at which the price reduction was calculated to counter excessive price reduction announcements. According to the December 23rd 2021 order, this must be the “lowest price that the professional has charged to all consumers in the last 30 days”.
In the event that certain legal information obligations are breached or abusive clauses are found in contracts, sanctions can be increased. It may be up to 4% of the turnover of target companies in the case of “large-scale violations”.
The ordinance, which came into effect on Saturday, also bans home sellers from visiting a consumer if he has “clearly and unambiguously stated that he doesn’t want to be the subject” of such visits. The seller could be sentenced to one year imprisonment and a 150,000 euro fine if he violates this rule.
