Mr Liikanen was speaking by video link to a Moscow conference of the Russian Association of Networks and Services. He said that while there is a high degree of compatibility between EU Directives and Russia’s draft laws, there are also some important differences.
First, Mr Liikanen said that both the EU and UNCITRAL have adopted a technologically neutral approach to authentication based on electronic signature rather than the digital signature approach currently adopted by Russia. Although Russia's choice may be founded on security considerations, the EU recommended that further consideration be given to the electronic signature approach which it sees as having a wider applicability and potentially a longer validity because of its technological neutrality.
Second, he argued that the EU's E-commerce Directive covers all information society services whereas the draft Russian law is limited to the conclusion of contracts. Additionally, only persons involved in a transaction benefit from the legal framework of the draft Russian law whereas the EU Directive brings protection to any person using any Information Society service.
Mr Liikanen told the conference to give “due consideration” to these differences between the EU Directives and the draft Russian laws. He also noted that the EU is helping to fund Russia’s e-commerce framework which he hopes will lead to a “Common European Economic Space” to promote efficient and interoperable e-commerce services between the EU and Russia.
