FINANCIAL SERVICES: EUROPEAN FINANCE HOUSES VOICE CONCERNS ON E-COMMERCE.

The European Commission amended its proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive on certain legal aspects of electronic commerce in the Internal Market (COM 99/427 final) in the light of the European Parliament vote in May. Eurofinas says that "insofar as the distance selling Directive sets a maximalist harmonisation standard, it will not be in conflict" with the e-commerce proposal.But it notes that "the cornerstone" of the Single Market system, the principle of recognition of the home country's legislation, is subject to "an important exception": contractual obligations concerning consumer contracts will be subject to legislation applicable in the consumer's country. And it suggests that this exception should be limited, "at the very least, to fields which have not been harmonised in a Directive". Pointedly, it adds that there is already "a high level of protection when dealing with consumer credit contracts", through Directive 87/102/EEC."Ambiguities in the text make it difficult to define the appropriate approach to be implemented" for consumer credit contracts, warns Eurofinas. It draws attention to what it says are conflicting invocations in the text of both the Single Market approach and the general...