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~ Wijnand Jongen ~

legislation such as the DSA, the upcoming AI Act, Data
Act and more. We believe this framework is generally fit for
purpose and that the rules should remain principle-based
and channel-neutral. The European Commission, however,
is looking at specific elements of consumer law, which they
suspect need to be revised. This includes dark patterns
and unfair practices, personalisation practices, contract
withdrawals, subscription services, influencer marketing, the
burden of proof and more. For any change the Commission
is considering, I would like to urge policymakers to take into
account the following three principles:

1. It is crucial to ensure all businesses, large and small,
can understand and implement the rules. Authorities
can help businesses with this. Ideally, already from
the implementation phase and not only through
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fines or sanctions in case of non-compliance.
2. It is important to ensure consumers are also
informed and aware of their rights and are able to
effectively exercise these. This is dependent on the
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successful implementation of the Omnibus Directive
and the Representative Actions Directive and the
ongoing evaluation of the Directive on Alternative
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Dispute Resolution.
3. It is equally important to ensure that these rules can
be implemented and enforced effectively in order
to protect the consumer and also the investment of
compliant businesses.

Unfortunately, in many policy areas, the EU is still a
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mosaic of different interpretations and transpositions of
legislation. These differences do not help businesses, which activities
are increasingly operating cross-border, but also do not
help consumers understand their rights, especially when Get weekly and monthly monitoring
shopping cross-border. It is, therefore, imperative to ensure a reports on relevant policy issues
more harmonised implementation of the rules and to equip
authorities with sufficient resources and technical expertise. Get the annual European B2C
Ecommerce Report for free
Next steps
With the upcoming European elections planned for mid-
2024, Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders has already Access exclusive events
announced that the next few months will be busy regarding
consumer protection. The fully-fledged report with the results
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of the Fitness Check should be finished before the end of
on Ecommerce Europe's website
the current mandate and is for now tentatively scheduled for
spring 2024.

The Fitness Check will likely lead to one or more new
For more information visit our
legislative proposals with a considerable effect on the
website or email us:
e-commerce sector, making it paramount for us to closely
www.ecommerce-europe.eu
follow and participate on behalf of our online retailers in the
upcoming discussion. •• [email protected]

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