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Business Roundup: Europe European Roundup April 2002 Europe ecommerce directive ISP conflict General business highlights Europe ecommerce directive UK businesses operating ecommerce solutions are becoming concerned. The general feeling is that the European directive for eCommerce is not being correctly enforced by the UK government, resulting in a noticeable lack of protection for Web trading companies. The UK was expected to be exemplary in upholding the law, but it has fallen short. It also justly faces criticisms on other issues, specifically on the 'country of origin' principle, which ultimately settles any cross border disputes. Current operations pave the way for the UK to be held ransom by consumers in other countries, who may insist that local customer protection law requirements are met. The result is a lack of confidence in online trading. ISP conflict Freeserve, one of the UK's leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs), is in dispute with UK customs and excise over a claim that AOL is in breach of European law. AOL is exempt from paying value-added tax (VAT) in the UK and as a result benefits from enormous savings of over £40 million per annum. BT Openworld, British Telecommunications' ISP, also has concerns. The exemption states that AOL is a content provider and therefore not liable, however the 1999 European directive subsequently ruled that all Internet companies should be paying VAT. The deadline for this implementation is July 2002. Time is of the essence as the competition for the broadband market heats up, and both BT and Freeserve compete with AOL for business. Predicted broadband sign ups for all three companies could mean an approximate payment of £54 million in VAT each next year. If one of the main players in the market is not liable for this payment, it would then have an enormous cash resource for marketing and promotion and subsequent monopolization of the market. General business highlights Nortel, the beleagured communications technology and infrastructure company, is expected to announce 350 job losses. Workers in southeast England are to be the hardest hit as the company plans to downsize to 48,000 employees globally. This coincides with reports that the company is about to issue a profits warning. The EU agreed to allow energy markets free competition for commercial users in 2004. The idea is to stop monopoly controlled energy sales and open the market to commercial competition, which is good news for the consumer and is another step for Europe in becoming a leading competition-based economy by 2010. France is fighting back in the war against recession as its transport ministry announces a 1.2 billion Euro loan to the air carrier Airbus Industrie. In an attempt to turn around the falling trend of nuclear power, Finland's prime minister Paavo Lipponen has asked the European Union to focus more attention on the development of the nuclear power industry. Specifically, he has requested fairer treatment for those European countries using ex-Soviet era reactors. Finland is considering the merits of building a fifth reactor and sets itself apart from the rest of Europe as the only country looking to expand their nuclear capabilities. © Copyright 2001. Galt Western Personnel Ltd. Unless otherwise specified, you may reprint this article, quote from it, use it in research or projects, duplicate it or distribute it. Credit of authorship and source MUST be given to galtglobalreview.com. Ownership of Copyright remains with Galt Western Personnel Ltd. Return to Top      Business News / Business Roundup - Australia / Canada / Europe / United States / Careers / Classified / Information Technology / New Technology / Education News / World Facts / Book Reviews / Archives/Research