engleski

Consumer Protection in the E-Commerce – European and Croatian Dimensions

The paper analyzes consumer protection in the domain of e-commerce by focusing on appropriate insurance of legal certainty and satisfying level of consumers’ confidence. In that regard the elaboration is based on relevant European and Croatian legal and institutional framework. Having in mind the spread of e-commerce among Croatian consumers as well as the level of their awareness on their rights as consumers, the second part of the paper deals with selected aspects of implementation and interpretation of the Directive on electronic commerce relevant for Croatia as a future EU Member State. Finally, the third part focuses on Croatian preparedness in selected interpretation issues of the Directive on electronic commerce in the context of its future integration into the Internal Market of the EU. This part of the paper assesses the level in which relevant data are recorded in Croatia and reveals some major flaws that undermine Croatian preparedness for efficient interpretation of the Directive. The paper stresses the importance of the consumer protection associations and consumer counselling centres as vital stakeholders in enhancing legal certainty and consumers’ confidence in e-commerce. Furthermore, the paper reveals significant issues of the functioning of consumer protection system in Croatia, especially if taking into consideration the threats of e-commerce for consumers’ confidence and required legal certainty.

EU Internal Market, Directive on electronic commerce, consumers' confidence, legal certainty, Croatian EU's accession process

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