Remarks by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen and Commissioner McGrath on the Digital Fairness Act and a Consumer enforcement initiative

Executive Vice-President Virkkunen

Good morning, and welcome to the college readout. Today we present the Consumer Package.

This package has two proposals: the Digital Fairness Act (DFA) to simplify and modernise consumer protection for the digital age.

And the revision of Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Regulation, to make enforcement of EU consumer law more effective and coherent.  

In recent years, the European Union has set the global standard for a safe, secure and fairer online world. For citizens and businesses alike.

We are delivering to that standard through the enforcement of the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, and the AI Act.

More recently, we have also proposed EU KIDS Act to ensure safety from the very beginning to our children. Once more Europe is showing leadership in protecting our users in the digital world.

Now, it was time to update consumer protection rules to ensure they remain a strong safety net in the digital world.

We are tackling the new unfair commercial practices that distort consumers' choices and put pressure on them, undermining their ability to make informed choices.

A clear example is manipulative design practices, so-called 'dark patterns'. When shopping online, we have all experienced fake urgency tactics, such as claims that “only 5 items remain”.

We are also empowering consumers: by giving them further control over addictive digital features, such as endless scrolling. Or by making subscriptions and digital contracts easier to understand and easier to cancel.

We are making influencer marketing and personalised commercial practices more transparent.

This is good for consumers, and it is also good for business. It creates a level playing field across the EU, just like we aim to do in other areas of our legislation.

In addition, the Commission is proposing to revise the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation.

We are giving the Commission direct investigation and sanctioning powers in very large-scale cases with a major impact on consumers across the Single Market.

This would include powers to impose fines of up to 6% of a trader's worldwide annual turnover, to improve coordination of cross-border enforcement actions by national authorities, and to strengthen enforcement against non-EU traders.

This coordination for cross-border actions is built into the design laws already when it comes to consumers. The Digital Fairness act will not duplicate this – it will reinforce our rulebook.

Lastly, the Commission is proposing targeted amendments to the Consumer Rights Directive to simplify its application in the digital space. This includes streamlining upfront information requirements for repeat in-app purchases and clarifying how consumers can cancel digital media subscriptions.

Most companies want to compete fairly and operate with legal certainty, without being undercut by those using manipulative tactics. By updating consumer law in a targeted, proportionate way, we are strengthening trust and providing businesses with clearer, more consistent rules across the Single Market.

Our message is simple: Europe already has a strong digital foundation. With the new Digital Fairness Act and the revised Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, we update our safety net consumer rules for the digital age.

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Commissioner McGrath

As the Executive Vice-President has just laid out, the Digital Fairness Act, together with the update to the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, represents the most significant reform of EU consumer protection rules in more than 20 years.

The digital economy has transformed how we shop, consume entertainment and access information.

Our existing consumer laws were developed before the rise of e-commerce, before the attention economy and before the sophisticated use of personal data became central to how businesses reach and persuade consumers.

So, today's update builds on strong foundations of EU consumer law and our digital rulebook.

Our ambition is clear: more choice and control for consumers, simpler rules and fairer competition for businesses, and stronger enforcement to tackle infringements that cross borders.

When shopping online, consumers are being faced with practices designed to mislead, manipulate and exploit them.

• They book a hotel or concert ticket – only to discover that the headline price does not tell the whole story, with hidden fees added along the way.
• They sign up for a subscription – but find it deliberately difficult to cancel.
• They follow influencers – without always realising what looks like a friendly recommendation is actually paid advertising.

And these techniques come at a financial cost: consumers are losing €10.3 billion per year.

This is happening at a time when households are already feeling the pressure of the cost of living.

Every euro matters. Consumers deserve to know what they are paying for - and to be in control of their choices.

The Digital Fairness Act will make sure the digital economy works for consumers, not against them.

The DFA will:

• Prohibit manipulative design practices – such as dark patterns – that push consumers into making decisions against their own interests. Fake claims that a product is almost sold out will no longer have a place online;
• It will give consumers the choice to turn off addictive features, such as endless scrolling and autoplay of videos;
• Require influencers to disclose advertising and prohibit them from exploiting the trust of children;
• Prohibit unfair personalisation practices such as advertising or pricing that targets minors or exploits vulnerabilities;
• Ensure transparent pricing – including in the event ticket sector; when consumers wait in virtual queues, companies will have to show the current price in real time and the highest possible price;
• The DFA will make digital contracts and subscriptions easier to cancel; consumers will now receive a reminder before a free trial is converted into a paid subscription, and an automatic renewal will be a conscious choice, not a forgotten obligation;
• It will restrict unfair practices that encourage overspending, with children no longer be exposed to gambling-simulating loot boxes or mechanisms that pressure them to pay to progress in video games; and
• When consumers really need help, they will be able to get meaningful assistance and reach a human being in customer service - not be left with a chatbot.

But today's package isn't just for consumers; it is about backing responsible businesses. Businesses that play by the rules should not be undercut by competitors who cut corners.

Our consumer protection rules will help ensure that businesses compete on the merits of their products and services - not on their ability to exploit consumers or evade the rules.

We are not making it harder to do business.

We are making it harder to do business unfairly.

But consumer rights are worth little if they cannot be enforced. 

Today, when illegal commercial practices impact consumers across several Member States, cooperation between national authorities can be time consuming and ineffective.

This is why we are also proposing a revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation – fulfilling another priority initiative in the ‘One Europe, One Market' Roadmap.

The new enforcement reform will:

• Speed-up cooperation between these authorities, setting timelines for key steps and improving how penalties are coordinated;
• Give the Commission direct powers to investigate and issue fines in large-scale cases with a major impact on consumers across the Single Market, with fines of up to 6% of a company's worldwide annual turnover; and
• Strengthen enforcement against non-EU companies, by requiring them to appoint a legal representative in the EU.

Europe has built one of the strongest consumer protection frameworks in the world. But our rules cannot stand still while the world around us changes.

We cannot have 21st-century consumers protected by rules that have not kept pace with the 21st-century economy.

Our ambition is straightforward: whether consumers are shopping on high streets or shopping online, they deserve the same protection, the same transparency and the same ability to make informed choices.

And this is not about putting consumers and businesses on opposite sides.

We want a digital economy where consumers can trust the services they use and where responsible businesses can compete and innovate.