Brussels, BELGIUM – Following a so-called ‘fitness check’ of EU consumer law, the European Commission last night published a new report that examines whether the same level of ‘fairness’ can be found online and offline.
The digital technology sector cautions that pending proper implementation and evaluation of recently agreed rules, the Commission should refrain from considering another layer of red tape. Authored over the last two years, today’s report will inform the next Commissioner on whether or not there’s a need to update EU consumer protection law.
While a Digital Fairness Act is already mentioned in the mission letter for Commissioner-designate Michael McGrath, it is simply too early to assess what kind of improvements the current rules would need, as the Regulatory Scrutiny Board also points out.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe) actively contributed to the fitness check consultations. The Association shares the Commission’s goal to uphold a high level of consumer protection in the European Union.
However, CCIA Europe believes that proposing new rules, like the aforementioned Act, without proper enforcement of existing rules will not solve any of the identified potential gaps.
For example, the issue of deceptive design, often called “dark patterns”, has already been addressed in consumer law, as well as EU rules on data protection and intermediary liability. Focusing on their enforcement, notably by further empowering the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network, will deliver faster and better results than creating more rules
The report talks about online and offline gaps in consumer protection. For the online world, however, it should be noted that this evaluation took place over a period of time when new digital legislation was still being adopted or had just started to be implemented.
It will take several years before it is possible to assess how landmark laws such as the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, and the Artificial Intelligence Act are going to impact personalisation, influencer marketing, and online product and service design at large.
European consumers’ trust in online services has been steadily increasing, and new rules should not lead to making their online experience less enjoyable. The fitness check should also support consumer opinions with more objective and descriptive data.
CCIA Europe looks forward to hearing McGrath clarify the next Commission’s political views on consumer protection policies during the upcoming hearings in the European Parliament.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Europe’s Senior Policy Manager, Mathilde Adjutor:
“The ‘digital fairness’ report should only be seen as a first step in evaluating how fit EU consumer protection rules are for the online world. The European Commission should consider all possibilities, and especially coordinated enforcement of existing consumer laws and digital rulebooks, before proposing more red tape.”
