On Wednesday 30 June, the European Commission presented two legislative proposals to strengthen consumer protection and rights by adapting two outdated EU directives to the digital age—the General Product Safety Directive and the Consumer Credit Directive (for the latter, see other news).
“We have adopted two legislative proposals that strengthen consumer rights in Europe. Consumers face many challenges, especially in the digital world which revolutionised shopping, services or financial markets”, commented Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, to the press.
The update of the General Product Safety Directive (2001/95/EC, referred to as GPSD), which has been applicable since January 2002 and entered into force in January 2004, was long overdue (see EUROPE 12750/9). When it was adopted, 9% of consumers were buying online, whereas today 71% are.
The revision takes into account the increasing number of new technology products in these purchases—wireless headphones, air purifiers, game consoles, etc.—and the need to learn from the pandemic, which saw a rise in misleading offers of anti-Covid-19 products. In this new context, online marketplaces will be responsible for offering safe products, regardless of their origin, Ms Jourová stressed.
Under the proposal, the Directive will become an EU Regulation (amending Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 and repealing Directives 87/357/EEC and 2001/95/EC).
This regulation will address risks related to new technology products—such as cyber security risks—and online shopping, by introducing product safety rules for online markets.
It will strengthen surveillance to ensure the same level of safety online and offline and ensure that all products that reach EU consumers, whether through online marketplaces or the corner shop, are safe, whether they originate in the EU or third countries.
This regulation will ensure that marketplaces fulfil their obligations so that consumers do not end up with dangerous products in their hands.
The European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, reported on the different levels of implementation of the current directive in the EU Member States. “While the directive has proved to be an essential element in protecting the consumer from dangerous products, there is a need to improve the rules, especially for online trafficking”, he explained.
The proposed regulation will be consistent with the horizontal approach of the legislative proposal on digital services, but will add specific provisions to ensure consumer protection, following a vertical approach, for non-food products.
The RAPEX rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products, set up in 2003 under the Directive and redesigned as Safety Gate in March this year, shows that more and more dangerous products from third countries are finding their way onto the EU market.
The accidents they cause cost €11.5 billion a year, and consumers lose €19.3 billion a year, Mr Reynders said.
The Commission expects the regulation to bring down these costs significantly through a more effective product recall system, clearer announcements, bans on terms that would prevent consumers from fully understanding them, and improved information on product risks.
For business, it will ensure a level playing field with safety as a common standard.
According to the Commission, the savings that can be achieved by reducing legal fragmentation and disparities in national implementation are estimated at €59 million per year for businesses and €0.7 million per year for market surveillance authorities. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)