EU to encourage cross-border e-commerce

Buying from abroad can improve choice and save money, says Commission

Online consumers should pay the same

More must be done to encourage online shoppers to buy products from other European countries, says the EU Commission.

The proportion of EU citizens making purchases over the internet has risen from 50 to 56 per cent since 2006, according to the Commission's latest research. But only 16 per cent of consumers have made international purchases over the web, a small rise on the previous figure of 15 per cent.

Europe must work to encourage confidence in cross-border purchases, said consumer commissioner Meglena Kuneva

"Consumers and retailers are beginning to embrace e-commerce at national level but internal market barriers still persist online," said Kuneva.

"The potential of the online internal market to deliver greater choice and lower price to consumers and new markets for retailers is considerable. We need to redouble our efforts to tackle the remaining borders."

Kuneva cited air travel as an example of an area where users may be blocked from buying their tickets from travel agents overseas. Surfers attempting to access foreign portals will often be redirected to the homepage of their own nation.