Frustrated MEPs have demanded more clarification from lawmakers about how proposed legislation for the delivery of digital content and contracts for online sales will work.

Representatives from the European Commission were grilled on Wednesday night by parliamentarians sitting on the internal market and consumer protection committee.

Despite much-vaunted plans for the so-called Digital Single Market, the commission has been sluggish to respond with concrete legislative proposals.

So far it has announced multiple guidelines and communications, but little in the way of real legal action. It was hoped that the proposed EU Directive on Digital Content—unveiled in December 2015—would be met with approval. But, despite wanting to press ahead to end what some say is unjustified geo-blocking, MEPs have said that many of the proposals remain vague and unclear.

“The definition of digital content creates definite uncertainty. We also need clarification on remedies, especially when we talk about contracts where digital content is provided for something other than money, data for example,” said Lithuanian liberal Antanas Guoga.

French MEP Jean-Marie Cavada pointed out that citizens were not solely “consumers of products,” adding that special attention should be paid to long-term contracts.

German Green politico Julia Reda questioned whether a malfunctioning smartphone would fall under digital content, or tangible goods rules: “If a button breaks then it’s certainly a tangible good, but if the software doesn’t work then you cannot use it," She then asked: "So wouldn’t it be better to treat the software on the phone under the digital content rules?”

There may be a contradiction with data protection law, argued Estonian MEP Kaja Kallas. “Upon termination of a contract, the consumer can get his data and content back. But the wording is too vague. Under data protection law, companies must anonymise certain data, so we need to be clear exactly what data consumers are entitled to get back,” she said.

UK Conservative MEP Vicky Ford summed up concerns saying that lawmakers cannot simply “cut and paste from rules for tangible goods to digital services."

Concrete proposals from the commission on other Digital Single Market issues, including the controversial copyright reform, aren't expected until September at the earliest.

Meanwhile, it's understood that the European Council, made up of the EU's 28 member states, won't finalise its position before June, which means that a vote on the Digital Content Directive from the European Parliament as a whole won't happen until 2017 at the earliest—a lifetime in the world of tech.