Digital Fairness: retailers call for better enforcement to protect consumer

The European Commission published its long-awaited report on the fitness check of EU consumer law on digital fairness. The report evaluates whether EU consumer law is fit for purpose in the digital age. Retailers and wholesalers agree with the Commission that the current legal framework is highly relevant in today’s digital landscape.

EuroCommerce Director General Christel Delberghe commented: “Retailers and wholesalers are committed to supporting consumer trust, by ensuring consumers are well-protected and to respond to consumer expectations. The European Commission report on digital fairness shows that consumers are overall protected. Considering that in the past mandate many new and sometimes overlapping rules have been adopted, the new Commission should focus on increasing awareness of these rules among traders and consumers and push for more effective and efficient enforcement.”

In their report, the Commission identified areas where it sees the need for further improvements to strengthen consumer protection in digital environments as well as harmful practices. However, EuroCommerce believes competent authorities should first try to enforce existing rules before new legislation is considered. The Commission report itself concludes that enforcement of existing rules is currently insufficient. Therefore, announcing a Digital Fairness Act in the mission letter to Commissioner-designate Michael McGrath seems premature at this stage.

Retailers and wholesalers acknowledge the challenges posed by fast-evolving technology and markets for both businesses and consumers, and they remain committed to ensuring strong consumer protection in digital environments. They also believe that the current EU legal framework provides a strong foundation to address these challenges and emphasise the importance of reinforcing enforcement.

EuroCommerce also stresses that third-country traders and marketplaces often sell non-compliant products that are potentially dangerous for consumers or provide ambiguous information that misleads consumers online. This leads to unfair competitive advantages for those companies, as they seemingly do not operate under the same rules as EU retailers, and it undermines EU consumer protection efforts.

“We urge the Commission and Member States to step up enforcement so consumers can trust that all the products they buy are safe and compliant, that their rights are respected, and that they have access to redress, no matter where, from whom, and how they purchase products and services.”, concludes Christel Delberghe.

The EU retail associations will soon present the results of a study about digital fairness in retail.