The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) said, on Friday 22 July, that the EU Council and the European Parliament lacked ambition when it comes to protecting consumers, under the General Product Safety Regulation, from dangerous products sold online.
In particular, the BEUC regrets that online marketplaces are not made “liable for dangerous products sold online by third-party vendors using their platforms”.
Furthermore, the BEUC regrets that the strategy of ‘what is illegal offline must also be illegal online’ - which is a watchword in other legislation, such as the DMA (see EUROPE 12986/3) - is “not heeded now”.
“This lack of ambition puts pressure on market surveillance authorities, and therefore national budgets, who will have to do more checks to stem the flood of non-compliance and protect consumers”, said the BEUC Director General, Monique Goyens.
As a reminder, the EU Council adopted its common position on the proposed regulation on 20 July (see EUROPE 12997/9). (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)