The Electronic Commerce (Amendment and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2026
- Department: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
- Made under: Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023
Revoked regulatory exemptions and legal protections previously granted to EEA-based online service providers under retained EU law.
These Regulations repeal provisions related to the Country of Origin Principle (CoOP) previously established under the EU e-Commerce Directive. They remove exemptions that protected European Economic Area (EEA) based information society service providers from certain UK market access regulations and restricted the prosecution of such providers for specific criminal offences, including those under the Terrorism Act 2006 and laws regarding extreme pornography.
The instrument applies to the Secretary of State and affects EEA-based digital service providers active in the UK market.
Arguments For
The Explanatory Note states that the regulations repeal remaining Country of Origin Principle (CoOP) provisions derived from EU Directive 2000/31/EC, aligning secondary retained EU law with the reform objectives of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.
The document indicates that the previous rules provided exemptions for EEA-based providers from UK market access regulations regarding qualifications, authorizations, and service quality.
The Explanatory Note asserts that the instrument removes requirements that previously prevented the institution of proceedings for certain offences—including those related to terrorism and extreme pornography—against EEA providers unless specific public interest derogation conditions were met.
A de minimis assessment concluded that no significant impact on the private, voluntary, or public sector is foreseen.
Arguments Against
Legal scholars may note that removing the Country of Origin Principle could increase the regulatory burden on EEA-based information society services operating in the UK, as they may now be subject to domestic market access requirements.
Affected service providers might argue that the removal of legal protections against prosecution for certain content-related offences, previously governed by public interest derogations, creates legal uncertainty for cross-border digital operations.
The absence of a full impact assessment could be questioned by stakeholders concerned about the cumulative effect of revoking retained EU law on small and medium-sized digital enterprises.
Citation, commencement and extent
- -(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Electronic Commerce (Amendment and Consequential Provision) Regulations 2026.
(2) These Regulations come into force on the 21st day after the day on which they are laid before Parliament.
(3) An amendment made by these Regulations has the same extent as the provision amended or revoked.
This section establishes the official title of the instrument and sets the commencement date as 7 May 2026.
It ensures that any changes or repeals have the same geographical legal reach as the original laws they modify.
Amendment of the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002
- -(1) The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 are amended as follows.
- (2) In regulation 2, paragraph (1) omit-
- (a) the words before the definition of 'commercial communication', omit 'and in the Schedule';
- (b) the definition of 'coordinated field'.
- (3) In regulation 2, omit paragraph (2).
- (4) In regulation 4, omit paragraphs (3) to (5) and (7).
- (5) Omit regulation 5.
- (6) Omit the Schedule.
This section removes the primary Country of Origin Principle (CoOP) protections from the 2002 Regulations.
It revokes provisions that previously exempted EEA providers from certain UK requirements regarding service quality, notification, and authorization.
Amendment of the Electronic Commerce Directive (Terrorism Act 2006) Regulations 2007
- -(1) The Electronic Commerce Directive (Terrorism Act 2006) Regulations 2007 are amended as follows.
- (2) In regulation 2, omit paragraph (2).
- (3) Omit regulation 4.
This section removes restrictions on prosecuting EEA-based providers for terrorism-related offences.
Specifically, it repeals the requirement that public interest derogation conditions must be met before starting proceedings for the encouragement of terrorism or dissemination of terrorist publications.
Amendment of the Extreme Pornography (Electronic Commerce Directive) (Scotland) Regulations 2011
- -(1) The Extreme Pornography (Electronic Commerce Directive) (Scotland) Regulations 2011 are amended as follows.
- (2) In regulation 2, omit paragraphs (2) and (3).
- (3) Omit regulation 3.
This section revokes the requirement for public interest derogations in Scotland concerning the possession of extreme pornography by EEA-based service providers.
It permits legal proceedings for such offences under Scots law without the previously required EU-derived conditions.
Amendment of the Electronic Commerce (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2018
- -(1) The Electronic Commerce (Miscellaneous Provisions) Regulations 2018 are amended as follows.
- (2) In regulation 2, omit paragraphs (2) and (3).
- (3) Omit regulation 6.
- (4) Omit regulation 11.
This section repeals provisions in the 2018 Regulations that limited the prosecution of EEA providers for various specified offences.
It also removes a statutory requirement to review these specific regulations.
Amendment of the Electronic Commerce (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
- -(1) The Electronic Commerce (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 are amended as follows.
- (2) In regulation 3, omit paragraphs (4) to (8).
- (3) In regulation 4-
- (a) in paragraph (3), omit sub-paragraphs (b) and (c);
- (b) omit paragraph (7).
This section makes consequential amendments to the 2019 EU Exit regulations.
It removes legacy references and provisions that supported the Country of Origin Principle during the transition period following the UK's departure from the European Union.
Amendment of the Law Enforcement and Security (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
- -(1) The Law Enforcement and Security (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 are amended as follows.
(2) In regulation 7, omit paragraph (3).
This section removes specific paragraphs from law enforcement regulations that accommodated the Country of Origin Principle.
This ensures the enforcement framework no longer applies exemptions based on the modified e-Commerce Directive.
Amendment of the Criminal Justice (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2020
- -(1) The Criminal Justice (EU Exit) (Scotland) (Amendment etc.) Regulations 2020 are amended as follows.
(2) Omit regulation 19.
This section revokes a specific regulation in the Scottish criminal justice framework related to EU withdrawal.
The repeal is a consequence of the broader removal of Country of Origin protections across the UK.
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