On 20 May, the European Commission organised its annual Consumer Summit event. The event this year focused especially on effective enforcement, and ways to better protect young consumers in the digital environment. Ecommerce Europe was also represented on stage via our President, Gero Furchheim, who participated in a thematic discussion regarding effective enforcement.
The event commenced with a series of exchanges with Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath. Most notably, the Commissioner referred to e-commerce and suggested that many e-commerce actors are non-compliant and that the Digital Fairness Act (DFA) is needed in order to address the gaps in legislation and to confer consumers the necessary level of protection online. At the same time, the Commissioner tried to temper his message by saying that the DFA will focus on remaining gaps, and it will target areas such as videogames, addictive design, subscriptions, social media influencers and online transparency.
In the next part of the Summit, Gero Furchheim, defended the e-commerce sector, and called on the participants to not bundle together non-compliant actors with those that are actively investing in compliant solutions and represent the vast majority. Additionally, Gero highlighted the lack of resources for authorities as a compounding factor to inadequate enforcement. With this in mind, the DFA is not necessary given that the already existing laws are sufficient to address the various concerns raised by different groups. You can watch the video recording of the discussion on effective enforcement here.
The Summit concluded with a debate on the best ways to protect young consumers in the digital environment. MEP Schaldemose (Denmark, S&D) stated that the Digital Services Act is a useful tool for this purpose, but only if enforced properly. She also stated that age assurance is a necessary aspect of the online experience, and that something must be done regarding addictive design. Moreover, influencers should become more responsible.
Finally, the event concluded with a short discussion on the achievements of the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC Net) given that they celebrated their 20-year existence this year.