The European Union's consumer commissioner is to outline new regulations that aim to make it easier and safer to shop online.

It is believed that around 150 million EU citizens use websites like Amazon and eBay to shop online, however only 30 million will buy goods from another EU state.

Meglena Kuneva, the EU consumer commissioner, stated that in the autumn she will set out a simplified common set of rules for business to consumer contracts across the member states.

"A single, simple set of core rights and obligations will make it easier for consumers and business to buy and sell across Europe," said Ms Kuneva in a speech in London.

According to the Guardian, the move is the latest step by Brussels that is attempting to make itself more "friendly" and "relevant" to peoples' everyday lives.

In May, it was reported that online spending in the UK increased by 1.6 per cent from April to hit a total of £4.5 billion, representing a total of £73 per person.

According to a recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent) In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'