The U.S. one isn't a specific internet tax either. The U.S. legislation is just trying to implement what the EU already has: purchases will have tax collected based on the destination jurisdiction.

The current situation in the EU is that if you order a book from the UK to Belgium, you pay Belgian VAT for the transaction. There is also an exception that sellers below a certain volume are exempt from dealing with the cross-border VAT. That is precisely what the new situation in the US will be, if this passes: cross-state purchases will be taxed based on the destination state's sales tax, with sellers below a certain volume exempt.

The 2003 VAT on e-Services laws are: they are a modification of the general VAT laws to better level the playing field between companies inside and outside of the EU for digital goods downloaded over the Internet. Before, companies in the EU had to collect VAT on all purchases (including from people in other countries), and companies in other countries did not have a realistic way to collect VAT from countries in the EU. Since the inception of that law, companies in the EU do not have to collect taxes on sales to other countries, and companies from all countries must collect VAT for sales to customers in the EU. They established a simplified registration process by which companies can register in a single jurisdiction and then remit collected VAT in a single currency, accompanied with a breakdown of which countries are owed which amounts. (None of this applies to physical goods, nor would such things be necessary, because those are taxed at the point of collection based on the declarations goods stated on the import/export documentation.)

> But that's because of the internal market, that isn't some specific internet tax, is it?

Despite the dishonest label "internet sales tax" frequently used by the media and opponents, the US measure being discussed "isn't some specific internet tax", either. Its a feederal law that gives permission, with conditions, for states to require remote retailers to collect and remit sales and use tax that are already due on purchases (and which, for remote sales, would otherwise generally have been the responsibility of the purchaser to report and remit). It is neither a new tax, nor is it "internet specific" in any way.