As of Monday European citizens have more freedom when it comes to the use of online shops as a new EU regulation came into force about unjustified geo-blocking practices, removing needless barriers for e-commerce. European Liberals and Democrats have pushed the Commission to adopt a strong single regulation to end artificial borders between member states for both goods and services.

Customers will no longer have to worry about online platforms blocking their access or redirecting them to their national version just because they are in another Member State. Until now, private parties were still putting inconsistent obstacles with internal market freedoms, further affecting the relatively low level of cross-border commercial transactions within the Union.

ALDE MEP Dita Charanzová, Vice Chair of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, said: “All EU online consumers should be treated in the same way, without discrimination, no matter where they call home and today we take a step closer to making this a reality. This new regulation will boost e-commerce and trade all over Europe. After roaming and portability, we are finally getting closer to a real digital internal market.”

No more country restrictions for online shopping in the EU. From today Europe has more freedom when it comes to the use of online shops abroad as a new law on unjustified geo-blocking comes into force. Read more here: https://t.co/ugHbIVumfZ pic.twitter.com/uI1Prprhss

Yes, good news from Europe! Starting from today, we can all shop online without borders! Europe puts an end to #geoblocking, the next step in creating a #DigitalSingleMarket @ALDEgroup pic.twitter.com/Xgr7IpGCdf