E-commerce Directive (2000/31/EC)

Status: In force since 17 July 2000. Member States were required to transpose it into national law by 17 January 2002. The current consolidated version dates from 17 February 2024.

EUR-Lex-link: Consolidated version can be found here.

Full name: Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (‘Directive on electronic commerce’).

Type: Directive.

Objective and key elements:

• Establishes an EU framework for information society services and cross-border online trade,
• Contains the internal-market or “country-of-origin” principle,
• Regulates provider information, commercial communications and electronic contracts.

Relevant to: providers of information society services, including e-commerce websites and other online services.

Notable amendments:

Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065): deleted Articles 12–15 of the E-Commerce Directive from 17 February 2024 and transferred the intermediary-liability exemptions and prohibition of general monitoring to the DSA. The remaining parts of the Directive continue to apply.

(Last updated 11 August 2026)