6. Calls on the Commission to take measures to remove the key barriers such as: lack of interoperability and standards (standardised plug and play would reduce costs and allow connectivity also for small Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) (or small DR applications); uncertainty over roles and responsibilities in new smart grid applications; uncertainty over sharing of costs and benefits and consequently over new business models; consumer resistance to participating in trials; the range of regulatory arrangements in Europe potentially presenting significant barriers to the replicability of project results in different countries;

32. Calls on the Commission to take measures to remove the key barriers, such as lack of interoperability and standards (standardised plug and play would reduce costs and allow connectivity also for small Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) (or small DR applications), uncertainty over roles and responsibilities in new smart grid applications, uncertainty over the sharing of costs and benefits and consequently over new business models, consumer resistance to participating in trials; the range of regulatory arrangements in Europe potentially presenting significant barriers to the replicability of project results in di ...[+++]fferent countries;

The reason for this is not because European consumers are not keen on e-commerce, but because, once they have made the decision to make a purchase online, they come up against all sorts of problems and, in the end, it transpires that the transaction cannot be carried out.

The fragmentation and the related uneven level of consumer protection make it difficult to conduct pan-European education campaigns on consumer rights and to carry out alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.The objective of the proposal is to contribute to the better functioning of the business-to-consumer internal market by enhancing consumer confidence in the internal market and reducing business reluctance to trade cross-border.

Few speakers alluded to the drawbacks of vaccination policy, the limited effectiveness of vaccines and consumer concerns about vaccination.

E-consumers continue to resist purchasing goods and services across borders, with the gap in fact widening; cross-border e-commerce increased only marginally, from 6% to 7%, between 2006 and 2008.