Posted By Salus This sort of policy seems not to be in the interests of member states at all. So why is it even being debated? The CBI called on European Union (EU) policy-makers to urgently review the consumer contract legislation - known as Rome I - before it goes to the European Parliament for debate later this week. The CBI and the British Retail Consortium have both accused the European Commission of ignoring the impact of the measures, which they said would expose businesses to the risk of having to comply with the different legal regimes of 27 EU countries. Under current rules, firms selling goods or services to consumers in other EU countries are generally subject to their domestic law. However, if the Commission's planned changes go through, sellers would be subject to the law in the country of the customer. For example, a UK-based firm currently selling products to a customer in Italy under UK law, would be liable under Italian law for any legal complaint. A case for redress would be held in an Italian court, under Italian law with the proceedings in Italian. Likewise, if a Spanish customer ordering goods from a UK-based website was dissatisfied with the product, the UK supplier would face legal action under Spanish law, in a Spanish court. Little choice CBI Deputy Director-General John Cridland said the new contract law had to be reconsidered before firms found themselves in a "legal quagmire". "The proposed legislation was sold as a simple legal tidying-up exercise when the Commission embarked on the process but has turned into a major operation," he said. "It will produce substantive new law and turn accepted cross-border trade principles on their head." He added: "Businesses will have three choices: spend time and money getting to grips with the varied and conflicting legal regimes of each member state they trade with; chance their arm that their processes will meet the required standards; or, most worrying, stop trading with some countries altogether." The British Retail Consortium said the Commission's failure to properly consider the impact of the new consumer legislation could make it "virtually impossible" for internet retailers to sell products outside their own country. 'Utterly unworkable' BRC director Alisdair Gray said: "If the law is passed in its current form internet sales across European borders would, at best, be seriously stifled and, at worst, killed off completely, especially for smaller businesses." The Federation of Small Businesses warned that the impact on firms of the new proposals could negate all the benefits from the recent deal to open up the services sector across Europe. FSB spokesman Simon Briault said: "EU legislators have got to start waking up to the vital role that small businesses play in the economy. "The recently-passed EU Services Directive will make it far easier for small firms to trade across borders. It is incredible that the European Commission is now threatening to undo all that good work by bringing in these utterly unworkable plans, which will only discourage businesses from trading across the EU. The proposals should be thrown out immediately."