ABSTRACT
Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is the largest and fastest growing market in the world. It offers online consumers a vast selection of products and businesses with an enormous potential customer base. If the European Union (EU) is to benefit fully from the economic potential of its internal market, a proactive policy approach is needed to stimulate favourable market developments in online consumer protection. It will also be necessary to develop tailored mechanisms to ensure the enforcement of consumers’ rights, which adequately reflect the requirements of cyberspace. EU consumers have arguably greater expectations of protection in the marketplace than US consumers. The European commission has shown interest in creating a regulatory model, which has been indicated by preparatory acts, such as the two green papers on access to consumer justice and alternative dispute resolution. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.
