EU Parliament increases the protection for online shoppers and vulnerable consumers

April 3, 2023 by
Frank Calviño

The EU Parliament reached a provisional political agreement to increase the protection for online shoppers by updating the EU’s rules on product safety of non-food consumer products. The new regulation on General Product Safety (GPSR) aims to address product safety challenges in online shopping (in 2021, 73% consumers bought products online).

Obligations of economic operators to provide protection for online shoppers

Under the agreed rules, a product can be sold only if there is an economic operator (such as the manufacturer, importer, or distributоr) established in the EU, who is responsible for its safety. When assessing product safety, Parliament included measures to guarantee that risks to the most vulnerable consumers (e.g. children), gender aspects, and cybersecurity risks are taken into account.

Removal of dangerous goods online

The GPSR introduces obligations for online marketplaces, such as those under the Digital Services Act, including designating a single point of contact for national surveillance authorities and consumers. National surveillance authorities can order online marketplaces to remove or disable access to offers of dangerous products without undue delay and in any event within two working days. Providers of online marketplaces will have to make reasonable efforts to check randomly for dangerous products.

Recall, replacement, and refunds

The agreed legislation improves the products recall procedure, as return rates remain low, with an estimated third of EU consumers continuing to use recalled products.

In case of a safety recall or warning, economic operators and online marketplaces will now be required to inform all affected consumers they can identify and widely disseminate the information. Recall notices should avoid expressions that can decrease consumers’ perception of risk (e.g., “voluntary”, “precautionary”, “in rare/specific situations”).

Consumers will be clearly informed of their right to repair, a replacement or an adequate refund (at least equal to the initial price). They will also have a right to file complaints or launch collective actions. The rapid alert system for dangerous products (“Safety Gate” portal) will be modernised to allow unsafe products to be detected more effectively and will be more accessible for persons with disabilities.

H&M will charge customers for online returns in the UK
H&M will charge customers for online returns in the UK starting in September. The Swedish company will begin charging £1.99 (€2.29) for returns on online orders in the UK. In-store...
September 26, 2023
Microsoft 365 Chat will introduce the new AI Copilot System for Windows
Microsoft has announced the launch of Microsoft 365 Chat, an AI tool that will be an integral part of the new Microsoft Copilot system that is already being integrated into...
September 25, 2023
TikTok's Black Friday: a challenge to Amazon!
TikTok's Black Friday program has been announced. The brand keeps pushing to dominate social media e-commerce and this sale is a direct challenge to Amazon. The social network is planning...
September 21, 2023
Top crossmenu

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close