The disparities in ADR coverage, quality and awareness in Member States constitute a barrier to the internal market and are among the reasons why many consumers abstain from shopping across borders and why they lack confidence that potential disputes with traders can be resolved in an easy, fast and inexpensive way.

Digital Agenda scoreboard 2011 shows following progress: 65% of the population regularly uses the Internet, coverage of fixed broadband networks reached 95.3% (rural coverage reached only 82.4 % of the rural population), subscriptions above 10 Mbps reached nearly 30 %, 28.7 % of households could have access to the speeds of 30 Mbps and above if they want to, 40% of the population used the Internet to purchase goods and services, 57% of Internet users engaged in eCommerce, the proportion of cross-border online purchasers reached 8,8%, 28% of SMEs were involved in online purchasing and 12,9% in online selling.

For the purposes of this point, ‘liquid medium’ shall mean the following products, possibly in mixtures and also where frozen or quick-frozen, provided that the liquid is merely an adjunct to the essential elements of that preparation and is thus not a decisive factor for the purchase: water, aqueous solutions of salts, brine, aqueous solutions of food acids, vinegar, aqueous solutions of sugars, aqueous solutions of other sweetening substances, fruit or vegetable juices in the case of fruit or vegetables.

For the purposes of this point, ‘liquid medium’ shall mean the following products, possibly in mixtures and also where frozen or quick-frozen, provided that the liquid is merely an adjunct to the essential elements of that preparation and is thus not a decisive factor for the purchase: water, aqueous solutions of salts, brine, aqueous solutions of food acids, vinegar, aqueous solutions of sugars, aqueous solutions of other sweetening substances, fruit or vegetable juices in the case of fruit or vegetables.

A. whereas the European Union is served by a diverse collection of health and social protection systems; whereas the years of low economic growth, rising unemployment and social exclusion, the reduction in European citizens' purchasing power and ability to contribute to public finances, the ageing of the population, the emergence of new diseases, together with advances in medical research and treatment, have resulted in a marked increase in healthcare costs; whereas all the Member States are now facing the same problems with regard to the need to control and cover the cost ...[+++]of health care,

For the purposes of this paragraph, "liquid medium" shall mean the following products, possibly in mixtures and also where frozen or quick-frozen, provided that the liquid is merely an adjunct to the essential elements of that preparation and is thus not a decisive factor for the purchase: water, aqueous solutions of salts, brine, aqueous solutions of food acids, vinegar, aqueous solutions of sugars, aqueous solutions of other sweetening substances, fruit or vegetable juices in the case of fruit or vegetables.