Geographically-based restrictions on webshops operating in the European Union will be illegal, i.e. websites may not reject orders from consumers based on their citizenship, residence or location and may not redirect them to other websites in the future.
The European Parliament passed a regulation in February in line with the objectives of the Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy. The new law prohibits any discrimination of online costumers based on their citizenship, residence, location or the country of issue of their bank and credit cards. Citizens of the Member States will henceforth be able to choose webshops more freely. Furthermore, the regulation prohibits any discrimination of consumers pertaining to the terms of payment.
The most concerned webshops are those offering household devices, car rental services, hotel reservations and tickets for sport events and concerts. However, you will not be able to watch Netflix across Europe (yet) since, for the time being, the regulation will not apply to contents protected by copyright laws. The European Commission will review the necessity to extend the regulation to such content in two years. The regulation will enter into force in the end of this year.