European Council – 24/25 Oct
EuroCommerce welcomes the European Council’s push for completing the Digital Single Market
Ahead
of the European Summit tomorrow, EuroCommerce welcomes the commitment
by the European Council to complete the Digital Single Market. We would
like to see a Single Market without borders
for omni-channel commerce, meaning that consumers can avail of a wider
choice of goods, whether they are shopping at home or abroad, and
irrespective of the channel they use to do so (computers, mobile
devices, or a conventional bricks-and mortar shop). To
achieve this, our political leaders need to drive through measures that
will:
-
enhance the confidence of consumers and businesses in on-line channels,
-
remove barriers to the competitiveness of omni-channel retailers at home and across borders,
-
improve the ICT infrastructure and the availability of e-skills across the Union.
Against
this backdrop, and as a first simple measure, we ask the European Union
to push for the establishment of single points of contact portals,
comprising current and relevant information
for businesses wishing to establish a cross-border on-line presence.
EuroCommerce advocates that such a (digital) one-stop shop should
contain user-friendly EU and national advice regarding: consumer
protection rules; VAT rules; administrative cross-border
requirements; product testing, information and labelling requirements;
and best practices on how to enter into or adapt to e-commerce.
We
also urge the European Union to swiftly approve the European payments
package, as proposed by the European Commission last July. The adoption
of the package would boost competition in
payments, allowing for the development of EU-wide on-line payment
services, which are efficient, low-cost and secure. The multilateral
interchange fee (MIF) is both a major barrier to the entry of new
players and entails high costs for retailers. The bulk
of on-line payments, especially cross-border, are made using the
international credit card brands, which carry very high MIF fees. These
fees raise prices on all goods and services, whether they are paid with
cards or not.
As
general policy guidance, EuroCommerce calls on Europe’s Heads of State
and Government to facilitate a level playing field for all commerce
channels in order to stimulate economic growth
and foster innovation. “The internet provides fantastic opportunities for consumers and businesses.
We are in favour of a flourishing digital highway with strong
e-commerce providers, be it pure players or omni-channel retailers,” commented Christian Verschueren, Director-General of EuroCommerce. “But it is also of critical importance that we have
fair competition between the digital highway and the high street. Creating a level playing field is an essential precondition.”
~ENDS~
Background note on e-commerce and multi-channel retail:
With
the advent of the Internet and the power of the digital economy,
consumers now have a variety of new ways to shop. New businesses
have sprung up specialising in on-line ordering and distance selling.
For the last decade, the three key dimensions of commerce have been
physical stores, mail or telephone order and on-line. More recently,
with the growth and universal spread of mobile devices
such as smartphones and tablets, a fourth, and rapidly expanding,
channel has been added: m-commerce, for mobile commerce.
Although
each channel retains the unique characteristics that compel customers
to engage with it – specialised or expanded merchandise
assortment, a compelling and informative visual presentation, the
on-demand nature of a channel, or the ability to touch, try out and
immediately take home your purchase – all of these channels share
certain criteria that the consumer expects. Nowadays, they
all blend into a seamless, omni-channel consumer experience. As a
result, retail and wholesale is transforming itself, with the emergence
and development of new so-called ‘pure-play e-commerce’ operators and
the rapid evolution of traditional bricks-and-mortar
retailers and wholesalers into true omni-channel operators. It is
important to note that currently 70% of all on-line sales in the
European Union are derived from omni-channel.
The
rapid evolution of e-commerce is apparent from the numbers: in 2012,
€277 billion of goods and services were bought by consumers
on-line, an 18% growth on the previous year. These numbers still
represent a small percentage (3.5%) of all B2C sales in Europe. The
European Commission has estimated that if e-commerce were to grow to 15%
and Single Market barriers were eliminated, consumer
welfare gains could total €204 billion, 1.7% of EU GDP.
EuroCommerce and the commerce sector
EuroCommerce represents the retail,
wholesale and international trade sectors in Europe. Its membership
includes commerce federations and companies in 31 European countries.
Commerce plays a unique role in the
European economy, acting as the link between manufacturers and the
nearly 500 million consumers across Europe over a billion times a day.
It is a dynamic and labour-intensive
sector, generating 11% of the EU’s GDP. One company out of three in
Europe is active in the commerce sector. Over 99% of the 6 million
companies in commerce are small and medium-sized enterprises. It also
includes some of Europe’s most successful companies.
The sector is a major source of employment creation: 33 million
Europeans work in commerce, which is one of the few remaining
job-creating activities in Europe. It also supports millions of
dependent jobs throughout the supply chain from small local suppliers
to international businesses.
For further information, please contact:
Conor Mescall
Advocacy & Communications
Tel: +32 2 737 05 89
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