§ Mr. FraserTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the cost to businesses of the EU agreement on e-commerce jurisdiction in favour of powers of courts of a consumer's country of residence; and if he will make a statement. [135565]
§ Mr. Alan JohnsonMy Department has made a provisional Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on the consumer provisions of the European Commission's proposal for a Community Regulation on jurisdiction and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (the "Brussels Regulation").
Compared to Article 13 of the existing 1968 Brussels Convention, the Commission proposal broadened the scope for consumers to take legal action in their home country when in dispute with traders in other EU member 462W states. The RIA suggests that the risk of being sued by a consumer in another member state is small, but that the Commission proposal could lead to a slight increase in legal expenses insurance premiums for those traders who take out such insurance.
The Government opposed the part of the Commission proposal (Recital 13) that would have meant that firms maintaining internet websites would automatically have been at risk of being sued in other EU jurisdictions. The Commission's amended proposal which has just been received omits that recital. Discussions between member states in the Council working group last week suggest that the amended Commission proposal is likely to form the basis of the final agreement on the consumer provisions of the draft Regulation. My Department will prepare a revised RIA. Our provisional assessment is that in comparison with the existing Article 13, the final text is unlikely to impose substantial additional costs on traders.