Online merchants, businesses, and policy makers gathered the last week in Barcelona to discuss the future of European e-commerce. Based upon the results of the Ecommerce Europe survey “Barriers to Growth”, participants of the Ecommerce Europe Annual Conference put forward several solutions to the biggest barriers to cross-border e-commerce.

The President of Ecommerce Europe, François Momboisse, declared that “Ecommerce Europe is pleased to bring the entire e-commerce ecosystem together for a full day of discussions. Publishing the results of the survey “Barriers to Growth” is just the first step in building a better cross-border e-commerce climate in Europe. Now is the time for online merchants, policy makers, suppliers, and consumers to work together to remove all borders to online shopping.” Regarding the launch of the pan-European Trustmark, Momboisse commented: “We hope the Ecommerce Europe Trustmark is a first example of many more projects aimed at stimulating cross-border e-commerce, and we look forward to working with all stakeholders on developing new initiatives.”

Survey on Barriers to Growth

The main challenges identified by the conducted survey amongst members of Ecommerce Europe are differences in legal frameworks, a lack of transparency in parcel delivery, differences in taxation/VAT systems, but also other obstacles such as a lack of a pan-European online payment system. Merchants and consumers need legal certainty through harmonization of existing legal frameworks, as we still have 28 different sets of rules for data protection, contract law, parcel delivery and tax administration. This is crucial for the sustainability of cross-border e-commerce models. To download the survey report please click on this link.

Launch of the Ecommerce Europe Trustmark

Besides these discussions on the future, Ecommerce Europe launched its pan-European Trustmark. This Ecommerce Europe Trustmark will stimulate cross-border e-commerce through a better protection for consumers and merchants by establishing one European set of rules for both consumers and merchants and by ensuring a clearer communication on these rules. The European Trustmark scheme will be rolled out throughout Europe from September 2015 onwards.