The European Commission unveiled plans to tackle the surge of low-value e-commerce imports in the European Union in order to preserve its internal market and prevent harmful items to enter freely into the bloc.
Using a communication to relevant parties, the Commission wants to start acting on the issue. It wants to use the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the newly enforced General Product Safety Regulation as working frameworks for consumer safety, as they both help the definition of safety standards for online marketplaces.
The EU relies on national consumer authorities for enforcing and monitoring consumer laws. However, under the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Regulation the Commission can coordinate the effort at European level, especially when larger sections of EU customers are involved. Recently the Commission coordinated efforts against Chinese e-commerce site Temu over concerns about fake discounts, dark patterns, forced gamification and fake reviews.
The Commission plans to unveil new common coordinates for national consumer authorities and afterward a new Coordinated Activity on Safety of Products for items sold online. The effort will help coordinate between member states and will boost information-sharing.
Data showed that in 2024 there were around 4.6 billion low-value items, namely items that don’t exceed a €150 valuation, delivered via e-commerce. This equals to 12 million parcels per day and represents an amount that it is double the volume of 2023 and three times the volume of 2022. This enormous growth was accompanied by a raise in harmful products entering the bloc, with many items not compliant with EU regulations.
The EU wants to assess the situation “to make sure citizens and businesses can continue to enjoy the many benefits of online shopping, while minimising the risks of dangerous products that threaten the health and safety of consumers,” as Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy Henna Virkkunen said.
