Sittings · Document
Follow-up to the European Parliament non-legislative resolution on product safety and regulatory compliance in e-commerce and non-EU imports
Rapporteur: Salvatore DE MEO (EPP / IT)
References: 2025/2037(INI) / A10-0133/2025 / P10_TA(2025)0154
Date of adoption of the resolution: 9 July 2025
Competent Parliamentary Committee: Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO)
Brief analysis/ assessment of the resolution and requests made in it:
Concerning regulatory compliance, product safety, consumer protection, and market surveillance the resolution:
calls for ensuring efficient market surveillance, strengthening the Market Surveillance Regulation, and ensuring an EU responsible person with enhanced responsibilities, including legal and financial liability, and reinforced accountability, possibly via the creation of a verifiable database of accredited EU responsible persons;
calls for ensuring that there are sufficient capacities at EU market surveillance authorities and calls for more joint enforcement activities in product compliance and safety; calls on for the enhanced use of AI powered e-surveillance tools (such as the proactive and product safety web crawlers), and the strengthened coordination and cooperation of market surveillance and customs authorities;
calls on the relevant national authorities to make full use of the current and recently adopted enforcement toolbox – especially in relation to provisions on e-commerce set in the Market Surveillance Regulation, the General Product Safety Regulation and the Digital Services Act (DSA), such as takedown orders, removal of products from the market, recalls and sanctions as measures to counter the rise of illegal imports from non-EU countries; insists on the need to strengthen the implementation and enforcement of current instruments;
stresses the need to evaluate the implementation of the existing compliance framework when considering new legislation, including obligations for online marketplaces; highlights that intermediary platforms allow non-EU sellers to ship directly to EU consumers without ensuring compliance;
supports the investigation and enforcement actions by consumer authorities in the EU, as part of the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) network and under the DSA, as well as by market surveillance authorities as part of the European Union Product Compliance Network, against non-EU online platforms and calls for their swift conclusion; underlines the need for enforcement to have a deterrent effect, with appropriate sanctions to trigger compliance; underlines that the implementation and effectiveness of commitments received from online platforms should be closely monitored;
calls for the revision of the CPC Regulation without delay and stresses the importance of granting the Commission direct powers to investigate and sanction certain high impact breaches of consumer law, thus ensuring more effective, simultaneous and uniform enforcement and sanctions under EU consumer law;
urges for the swift adoption of Digital Product Passport secondary legislation in more product areas and proposes its mandatory inclusion in e-commerce products to pre-screen products before reaching the single market; suggests the creation of further EU Testing Facilities in more product categories;
supports and stresses the need for a “common framework for minimum harmonisations” of penalties for non-compliance across Member States;
asks the Commission to provide for clear measures to further strengthen enforcement powers over non-EU traders and platforms and ensure better coordination of EU and national actions and the exchange of information among authorities, as well as with authorities in non-EU countries;
urges the Commission to carry out an impact assessment regarding the idea of e-commerce items being shipped to the EU in bulk and, in turn, the establishment of warehouses in the EU by non-EU traders for such goods before they are put into parcels for delivery to customers.
Response to requests and overview of actions taken, or intended to be taken, by the Commission:
Concerning consumer protection and product safety the Commission will carry out the actions and initiatives outlined in the E-Commerce Communication. In the area of product safety, the Commission recently coordinated the first product safety sweep of the Consumer Safety Network a new coordinated control mechanism introduced by the General Product Safety Regulation. Similarly, the Commission coordinates joint enforcement actions of national market surveillance authorities under the ‘Coordinated Activities for the Safety of Products (CASP)’. Many of these activities also involve product testing, where market surveillance authorities sample products online under a covert identity (’mystery shopping’). Another CASP activity, to be kicked off this autumn, aims at enhancing cooperation between market surveillance and customs authorities.
In the recent past the Commission has overseen the successful launch of the priority control area actions focusing on e-commerce, ensuring the smooth and effective cooperation of market surveillance and customs authorities. Additionally, the Commission has made available a pro-active web crawler tool for the use by market surveillance authorities to help identify potentially non-compliant products for testing.
As regards the cooperation between the Commission and relevant national authorities, with the help of the DSA Officers placed in the Commission Representations in Member States, the Commission has organised roundtables on e-commerce with the aim to feed the work of the European Board for Digital Services and the national and Commission enforcement actions under the DSA. The roundtables are positively received by Member States and national authorities, such as consumer protection, market surveillance and customs authorities, and the Member States have welcomed the Commission’s support in the creation of national task forces on e-commerce.
Currently, the Commission is coordinating and progressing the CPC Network’s ongoing coordinated actions against non-compliant online marketplaces (Temu; SHEIN). Furthermore, the Commission is reflecting on the revision of the CPC Regulation.
In addition, the Commission is also looking into further enhancing the effectiveness of the enforcement of EU product compliance and safety rules, by the foreseen evaluation of the Market Surveillance Regulation and an impact assessment of its potential revision, assessing whether the current framework is fit for purpose. Moreover, the Commission is examining the revision of the New Legislative Framework (NLF) and of the Standardisation Regulation.
Looking ahead, the Commission proposal on the customs reform is discussed in the relevant interinstitutional negotiations, since the legislative process is currently ongoing.
As far as the customs treatment of goods sold in distance sales from online platforms (and their responsibilities) is concerned, the customs reform proposal includes specific provisions to reinforce the capacity of customs authorities to effectively handle the increasing volume of such goods, in cooperation with all the relevant competent authorities, in particular market surveillance authorities. This will also include an EU-level risk analysis via the new EU Customs Authority, as well as a stronger framework for collaboration between customs and other authorities and an effective exchange of information through the new EU Customs Data Hub.
Additionally, the Commission notes that the model of e-commerce goods imported in bulk from third countries into specific customs warehouses in the EU before being sold to consumers has been introduced by the Council in its negotiating mandate. Considering the 2016 interinstitutional agreement on better law-making, the Council can carry out its own impact assessment on its substantial amendments to the Commission's proposals, as author of the mentioned amendment to the customs reform.
Given the above shift in ecommerce models, the Commission is also assessing in the context of the product safety and compliance frameworks, whether adaptations of the definition of fulfilment service providers and additional obligations for these key economic operators would be necessary.
Furthermore, the Commission proposes that the upcoming Digital Fairness Act (DFA) should specifically focus on various consumers law acquis gaps and necessary updates, which will ensure to avoid any overlap with digital legislation such as the DSA (for platform-intermediated content) and the Digital Markets Act, and will not duplicate nor contradict regulated issues already covered by existing legislation, thus ensuring regulatory consistency and enforcement.
The Commission envisages that the DFA will also include a significant component of simplification and reduction of administrative burden, particularly in the areas identified in the fitness check. Preparatory work for a proposal on the DFA for 2026 will include a thorough impact assessment and consultations.