As part of the Commission’s Digital Single Market initiative, the European Commission has published a draft Regulation aimed at preventing traders from discriminating against customers based on nationality or location. The rules will benefit both consumers and businesses that purchase goods or services (excluding resellers) for use within the EU.

The European Commission believes that geo-blocking and discriminatory practices undermine online shopping and cross-border sales within the EU. Despite previous attempts to ban discrimination under previous EU legislation, many retailers continue to block access to their websites to customers located in another Member State or redirect customers to their local website which may offer different goods and services at different prices. Goods and services that tend to be most affected include clothing, books, computer hardware and games, car rental and digital content (e.g., music and videos).