The Council of the EU adopted its position on the June 2021 proposal for a Regulation on General Product Safety (GPSR), which updates EU legislation to ensure a high level of consumer protection at a time when online markets and the development of new technologies pose new challenges that require the replacement of the outdated Directive 2001/95/EC.
The Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) agreed on Wednesday 20 July on this position, which constitutes a mandate to negotiate with the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12981/8, 12931/2).
“The transformation of the Directive into a Regulation will provide a solid legal framework to ensure that products are safe and comply with European standards”, commented the Czech Republic’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the EU, Jaroslav Zajíče.
According to the EU Council, only safe products can be made available on the EU market, whether they are sold online or in shops and regardless of their country of origin. Online marketplaces will have to ensure that they know the merchants and the type of products they offer and will be required to establish a single point of contact responsible for product safety.
A single market surveillance regime will apply to all products and will ensure that economic operators have a person responsible for all products sold online and offline.
The future Regulation also improves the rules on product recall, imitation food products and consumer redress.
The sanctions to be imposed on offenders, proportionate to the seriousness and duration of the infringement, should remain within the competence of the Member States as regards the type of sanctions.
The European Parliament, for its part, has yet to adopt a position, based on the report by Dita Charanzová (Renew Europe, Czech) adopted in mid-June (see EUROPE 12973/12).
Interinstitutional negotiations can start in the autumn, once Parliament has taken a decision. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)