Cross-Border eCommerce Compliance - The Current Position

Introduction

Since the UK's departure from the EU, the regulatory landscape for e-commerce businesses trading across the UK-EU frontier has become more complex. While the UK and EU share common foundations in areas such as data protection law, significant divergences have emerged.

The UK has introduced new legislation such as the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which strengthens consumer protections and bans on fake reviews and drip pricing. Meanwhile, the EU has advanced its own regulatory agenda with the Digital Services Act and updated General Product Safety Regulation, creating new obligations for online platforms and marketplaces.

VAT treatment has fundamentally changed, with the UK now classified as a /third country/ under EU law. Cross-border e-commerce between the UK and EU faces customs declarations, import duties, and separate VAT registration requirements that didn't exist during EU membership.

However, substantial alignment remains in many areas. The UK retains consumer rights frameworks derived from EU law, including distance selling rules and payment services protection. Recent trends show increasing voluntary alignment as both jurisdictions seek to facilitate trade while maintaining regulatory autonomy.

This webinar will help you to understand the current compliance landscape and will explore how businesses operating across the UK-EU border can effectively navigate these diverging regulatory requirements.

It is suitable for in-house counsel, e-commerce managers, compliance officers, technology lawyers advising online businesses, and anyone managing cross-border UK-EU digital commerce operations.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Consumer protection
• Platform and content regulation
• Product safety and compliance marking
• Data protection
• VAT and taxation
• Areas of continued alignment
• Practical compliance strategies
• The future trajectory

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Tuesday 14th April 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 1,900+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.