BRUSSELS (IDG) -- European Union consumer ministers ignored European Commission warnings and unanimously backed a resolution Tuesday calling for reinforced consumer protection rights in electronic commerce.

The Resolution calls on the Commission to take every step possible to ensure the right of users to rely on consumer protection laws in their country of residence when problems arise with electronic services, according to the text of the Resolution.

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The Commission, however, has warned that this risks impeding its efforts to create a single market for electronic market services, because it means that service providers may have to respect up to 15 different national consumer protection legislation in the Union alone, according to confidential documents obtained by the IDG News Service.

The Resolution also runs counter to legislation currently being prepared by the Commission which sets out framework rules for electronic commerce. The framework stipulates that it is the country where the service originates that determines the applicable law. In this way service providers have to comply with only one set of consumer protection rules.

As a result, the Commission has issued a declaration to the minutes of the Council decision indicating that "its hands are free as to how it implements the Resolution," an EU diplomat explained following the Council decision.

Resolutions are not legally binding on either the member states or the commission, but they do establish political commitments, the diplomat explained.

For this reason it will be interesting to see whether the Council of Ministers takes this resolution into consideration when it reviews the upcoming electronic commerce framework directive.

"That is the big question," the diplomat said.

Elizabeth de Bony writes for the IDG News Service in Brussels.

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