MEPs on the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection on Thursday 16 June adopted their position on the proposal for a regulation on the general safety of non-food products (RGSP), which updates EU legislation to ensure a high level of consumer protection in an era of online shopping and new technologies.
The report by Dita Charanzová (Renew Europe, Czech Republic) was adopted with 41 votes in favour, one against and two abstentions. This success was expected (see EUROPE 12972/14, 12900/19).
MEPs want the same high level of consumer protection, with particular attention to vulnerable consumers - whether the products are bought online or in a shop and wherever they come from - and clarify the responsibility of economic operators.
“We are giving more rights to consumers and more responsibilities to businesses, including online marketplaces. Most importantly, we do it in a way that protects small businesses without limiting consumer choice. The new obligations will target the areas where action is most needed”, commented Charanzová.
According to the text as voted on, all economic operators - manufacturers, importers, distributors - will be obliged to make only safe products available on the EU market. If these economic operators are not established in the EU, they will have to designate a responsible person in the EU to act as a contact point with the authorities.
In the event of infringement, they will be sanctioned with fines of up to 4% of their annual turnover.
Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), online marketplaces will each have to establish a single point of contact for rapid communication with market surveillance authorities and consumers.
In order to identify dangerous products, these online markets will have to carry out random checks. Authorities will be able to force online marketplaces to remove and disable access to illegal lists of dangerous products within one day of notification.
In the event of a recall of a dangerous product or a safety alert on Safety Gate (the EU’s rapid alert system), economic operators and online marketplaces would be required to inform consumers and disseminate the information widely online. Consumers would be informed of their right to repair, replacement or refund.
MEPs added a provision to ensure that product safety information is available in easily understandable language and accessible to people with disabilities.
In a statement, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe) welcomes better protection for online shoppers, clearer rules for businesses and greater alignment with the recent DSA. However, it would like to see the new obligations for online markets refined.
The Council of the EU has yet to adopt its position (see EUROPE 12931/2).
See the text as voted: https://aeur.eu/f/24l (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)