PARIS (Reuters) - The European Commission is studying whether existing rules on electronic commerce have been applied evenly in the 27-nation European Union and may seek to clarify the law, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The study into the EU's seven-year-old, e-commerce directive comes amid calls from France's luxury goods industry and pharmaceutical makers for tougher action against counterfeiters using sites such as eBay (EBAY.O) and Google (GOOG.O) to advertise their wares.
The EU directive defined common requirements and standards for e-commerce, including limits on the liability of websites hosting services offered by third parties.
"In practice we have seen divergences in national jurisprudence," Jean Bergevin, a head of unit in the Commission's internal market division, told a conference on intellectual property rights organized by French industry's anti-counterfeiting association, Unifab.
Luxury goods makers Louis Vuitton and Dior (DIOR.PA) are challenging how the law has been applied in France in a high profile case involving eBay. They argue the auction site should be made responsible for counterfeit goods sold by its merchants.
The Commission has asked consultants - three universities, according to slides presented at the conference - to establish the extent of any differences in national laws and could begin its own study later this year, Bergevin said.
"We estimate the Commission in June 2008, once this is completed, will make its evaluation of the directive," he said.
He stressed no decision had been taken on whether there was a need for strict guidelines on how to interpret the law.
UniFab Chairman Marc-Antoine Jamet, a senior executive at luxury goods group LVMH (LVMH.PA) which owns Louis Vuitton and makes Dior perfumes and watches, welcomed the EU initiative as a possible chance to tighten French law.
Other speakers at the conference also argued the current legal framework was not enough to stop trade in counterfeits.
"Is the legal framework in Europe or France adequate today? No, it's not," said Francois Garnier, a vice president of Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N), the manufacturer of male anti-impotence drug Viagra, one of the medicines most widely touted on the Internet.