Brussels, 21 Nov (EFE). - The countries of the European Union, the Parliament and the Commission have reached a political agreement to eliminate the unjustified geoblocking of digital content in community territory, the EU Council said today in a statement.

Currently, EU consumers face unjustified blockages when they try to buy products or online services in other countries of the Union.

The new rules agreed by the three European institutions aim to boost electronic commerce "for the benefit of consumers and companies, "said the Council.

" With the new rules, Europeans "will be able to choose which web page they want to buy without being blocked or redirected," commented the vice president of the EC responsible for the Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, who assured that this "will be a reality for Christmas next year".

European consumers will have access to a offer more products online regardless of where they are physically located.

The agreement reached by the institutions defines three specific situations in which they do not It will be justified to treat consumers from other Member States differently.

The first refers to the sale of goods that are not physically delivered, for example, in the case of a Belgian customer who finds the best offer to buy a refrigerator in a German website, and that he will pick up himself.

The second assumption refers to the sale of services that are they supply electronically, as in the case of a Bulgarian consumer who wants to compare a server for their website to a Spanish company, who will not have to pay additional fees not to reside in Spain.

Finally, the third situation is the sale of services offered in a specific physical location, such as in the case of a family Italian who wants to buy a holiday on the website of an amusement park in France, without being redirected to the Italian page of the park.

The agreed regulation does not impose the obligation of sale and does not harmonize prices either, the Council reminded, who stated that it does respond to discrimination when accessing goods and services in cases where it is not objectively justified.

The new rules will enter into force directly nine months after their publication in the Official Journal of the EU, in order to allow time for small businesses to adapt.

According to a survey of the European Commission, currently geo-blocking practices are given in 63% of the websites studied.

It also shows that, in 2015, less than 40 % of websites allowed cross-border customers to complete a purchase, resulting in "less revenue for companies and less choice for consumers," he said. the Commission.