The European Parliament's rapporteur on the Brussels Regulation on Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgements, Diana Wallis MEP (Lib Dem, Yorkshire and the Humber), was today celebrating the voting through of her report at a plenary session of the Parliament in Brussels.
Said Diana Wallis: "This is a real victory for common sense, the Parliament has rejected totally the unhelpful amendments made by the Legal Affairs Committee and entirely followed my original line.
"Along with the earlier E-commerce Directive we now have an excellent framework for e-business in Europe. We have arrived at a position which should promote confidence in the new medium within the Internal Market, by supporting consumer rights and also respecting SME concerns about fears of litigation in 15 different jurisdictions."
When presenting the report to Parliament late Wednesday evening, Diana Wallis highlighted the provisions on Alternative Dispute Resolution for consumer to business transactions, she said, "This will go down as one of the major achievements of the Committee."
It is now up to the Commission and Council to agree the final text, commenting last night Commissioner Vittorino, Justice and Home Affairs, rejected the amendments made by British Tories and indicated support for the spirit of what Diana Wallis was trying to achieve.
