Online product safety and sustainable consumption were at the heart of the European Consumer Summit, which took place on Tuesday 28 March in Brussels. This was an opportunity for the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, to organise an informal meeting with the Consumer Affairs Ministers of Sweden and the future EU Council Presidencies (Spain and Hungary).
The exchange covered the Commission’s latest proposals, from the revision of the General Product Safety Regulation to the proposed directives on the right to redress and the substantiation of green claims, as well as the Regulation on consumer credit in the digital age - a dossier that is being re-discussed at technical level, but on which confirmation of the European Parliament/EU Council political agreement is expected under the Swedish Presidency, possibly in April.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Mr Reynders told the press that “we all have the digital transition and the green transition as priorities”.
The summit saw major digital platforms (Etsy, Alyexpress, C-discount, Amazon, Rakuten, Joom, Allegro, Alibaba, eBay, e-mag, Wish) sign up to the ‘Product Safety Pledge+’ which goes beyond compliance with EU legislation.
In doing so, they promised to deepen and broaden their commitment by, for example, providing an improved reporting mechanism and new deadlines for identifying lists of products similar to those notified by the authorities, as well as sharing information on recalls of dangerous products.
“The important thing is to make sure that once recalled, these products do not come back on the platforms”, said the Commissioner.
Nine new companies have also joined the voluntary commitment to sustainable consumption, committing to reduce their carbon footprint (see EUROPE 12996/10), but also to meet other sustainability objectives, such as reducing their environmental footprint, increasing circularity or respecting social sustainability throughout the supply chain. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)