On 1 July, Denmark took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) from Poland. The Member State will lead the work of the Council until the end of the year, with Cyprus and then Ireland next. From an e-commerce perspective, there are a number of files Poland pushed for achieving, while others were left more on the sidelines. The Danish Presidency has already expressed its ambition to put on top of its agenda a number of them, but its mandate will also come with its share of new challenges. Here are Ecommerce Europe’s top takeaways from Poland’s Presidency and Denmark’s priorities until 2026.
Polish Presidency wrap up
Poland kicked off its Council Presidency on 1 January 2025, with a set of priorities largely articulated around European security, but also focused on deepening the Single Market, increasing European competitiveness and restoring fair competition at international level.
Achieving simplification: simplify sustainability requirements and support digitalisation
The objective of improved competitiveness was notably addressed from a simplification angle, with the work conducted on the Omnibus packages put forward by the European Commission. In particular, the Polish Presidency reached an agreement with the European Parliament on the “Stop the Clock” Directive under the Omnibus I package, allowing the postponement of the application date of corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements. Following this, the Council adopted its mandate for the negotiations on simplifying the directives on corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD) and due diligence (CS3D), beyond the Stop the Clock provisions. Under the Omnibus I package, the co-legislators also reached an agreement on the simplification of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which is expected to be formally adopted by next September.
Last May, the European Commission put forward the Omnibus IV package, including some proposals also relevant to the e-commerce sector. The Council notably recently reached an agreement with the European Parliament on the Stop the Clock Directive for obligations regarding battery due diligence policies. Under the Omnibus IV, the Polish Presidency also started the work on small mid-caps (SMC) and the removal of paper requirements. Ecommerce Europe follows closely this proposal as it includes targeted amendments to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to extend to SMC the record keeping obligations currently applicable to SMEs. Also on the GDPR, the co-legislator reached an agreement on the GDPR Procedural Rules, for better enforcement of the GDPR in cross-border cases, which was formally approved but has yet to be published in the Official Journal of the EU.
Although, sustainability was not a priority for Poland’s Presidency beyond the simplification objectives, the Council concluded the inter-institutional negotiations on the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), which notably sets new targets to reduce textile waste. The agreed text also introduces new rules with regards to extender producer responsibility (EPR), (ultra) fast fashion practices and to reduce administrative burdens.
With regard to taxation, the Council adopted the long-awaited VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package, which entails several changes for European businesses engaged in cross-border e-commerce in the Single Market. ViDA notably introduces simplified and streamlined VAT processes, updated rules for platforms engaged in short accommodation and transport services, and e-invoicing and digital reporting requirements for B2B transactions. Furthermore, and in line with the objective of digitalisation, the Council adopted new electronic VAT exemption certificate to replace paper forms. Finally, Poland led the Council in reaching an agreement on the Directive on Administrative Cooperation in Taxation (DAC9), enabling companies (scoped in the OECD Pillar 2 framework) to file tax information centrally in one Member State and thus reducing reporting burdens.
Ensuring better consumer protection and a level playing field: a work in progress
Consumer protection saw some important developments under the Polish Presidency of the Council. After five months of inter-institutional negotiations which started under Hungary’s lead, the co-legislator reached a provisional agreement on the Toys Safety Regulation which has yet to be formally approved. The final text will strengthen requirements regarding dangerous chemicals, clarifies the rules on the Digital Product Passport (DPP) and align the obligations for economic operators. In the last days of Poland’s Presidency, the Council struck a deal with the European Parliament on the revision of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) framework. Once formally agreed, the text will aim at incentivising the use of ADR, as well as making its procedures smoother and adapted to the digital age.
During its Presidency, Poland also put significant pressure on the Member States to make progress on the negotiations regarding the Union Customs Code (UCC) reform. This reform aims at streamlining and improving the efficiency of customs authorities’ activities, as well as digitalising them, in order to adapt the framework to the ever-growing sales of e-commerce while ensuring better consumer protection. However, since the UCC reform was first proposed, the landscape of online and distant sales witnessed drastic changes, with the tremendous growth of third country players. The latter are increasingly found non-compliant with EU standards in terms of health, safety, and environmental protection, and hinder fair competition. Ecommerce Europe is at the forefront of the discussions on these issues, calling for achieving a level playing field between EU-based and non-EU based e-commerce players, including through the UCC reform which has the potential to address some shortcomings of the current framework. Although it seemed unlikely that a position would be adopted before Denmark took over the Council Presidency, given the number of issues to be addressed and compromises to be reached, Poland managed to secure one before the summer.
First, the Council adopted a general approach on the Directive on VAT rules for distance sales of imported goods and import VAT. Initially as part of ViDA, the Council negotiations had been moved under the UCC Reform due to the impact that the latter will have on the Import One-Stop-Shop (IOSS). Under this position, the Council has agreed to incentivise, rather than mandate, the use of the IOSS by non-EU traders, as well as to remove all trade facilitations for non-IOSS traders. This was an important element of the broader UCC discussion with regard to which trade facilitations should and should not be allowed to traders. Afterwards, Member States achieved a major agreement on the bulk of the UCC revision, reaching a partial general approach that could open the inter-institutional negotiations with the European Parliament under Denmark’s leadership. The co-legislator’s mandate leaves however some details to be finalised by the Danish Presidency, such as the formal support for the abolition of the customs duty threshold and the introduction of a simplified tariff treatment, together with other details that need to be figured out with the Parliament, namely the amount and operational details of the handling fee and the seat of the EU Customs Authority.
Last but not least, and in line with the objective ensuring fair competition, this time in the field of payments, the Polish Presidency adopted the Council’s mandates for inter-institutional negotiations on the Payment Services Directive (PSD III) and the Payment Services Regulation (PSR). Two important payment files for merchants, especially on topics such as fraud prevention or Strong Customer Authentication (SCA). Ecommerce Europe actively advocated for the e-commerce sector during the discussions, in particular calling for addressing the dominant practices of international card schemes and the lack of transparency in scheme fees imposed in card-based payments. In that respect, the position adopted by the Polish Presidency includes positive developments.
Denmark takes over, what to expect?
On 1 July, Denmark’s Council Presidency kicked off for a six-month duration. According to its programme, entitled “A strong Europe in a changing world”, the Member State will focus on two goals: “A secure Europe” and “A competitive and green Europe”. Denmark notably commits to continue Poland’s effort in supporting the reduction of administrative burdens and the simplification agenda with the Omnibus proposals and other initiatives. Under this mandate, we can expect the inter-institutional negotiations on Omnibus I and IV to make progress.
Denmark will also continue the talks on the UCC reform to reach a final agreement with the European Parliament before Cyprus takes its seat in the rotation. The Member State will also take the lead on the discussions regarding the budget and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), including new own-resources. Regarding payments, the co-legislators will also continue the trialogues on PSR and PSD III.
In terms of consumer protection, we expect the launch of the negotiations on the forthcoming Consumer Agenda 2025-2030. On environmental issues, the priority will be put on strengthening the circular economy and increase the EU’s strategic autonomy by improving the security of supply of key natural resources. The inter-institutional negotiations on Green Claims are however on pause since the European Commission announced considering withdrawing its proposal. Finally, we can expect that the Council starts internal negotiations to adopt a position on the New Legislative Framework (NLF) revision.