On Monday 18 November, MEPs on the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) discussed with the European Commission the ‘Digital Fairness Fitness Check’, published at the beginning of October, which assesses consumer protection law in the European Union with regard to online practices (see EUROPE 13497/6).
Following a brief presentation by Isabelle Pérignon, Head of Consumer Affairs at the Directorate-General for Justice (DG JUST), MEPs questioned the relevance of introducing new legislation in the light of the arsenal of controls already in place in the EU.
Sandro Gozi (Renew Europe, French) raised the issue of the legal shortcomings of the current system – the case of ‘deceptive interfaces’ (‘dark patterns’) and the addictive design of digital services – which could be resolved by “reducing the current fragmentation” of supervisory bodies.
The same criticism was levelled by her counterpart, Dora David (EPP, Hungary), who criticised the “inefficient” implementation and “disparate” interpretation of the current rules. “We need to ensure consistent application before drawing up new legislation”, she said, stressing that, in line with the recommendations of the Draghi and Letta reports, the EU must seek to restore economic competitiveness. In this respect, a proliferation of administrative burdens would not help, she believes.
No timetable has been put forward by the Commission. Michael McGrath, the future commissioner responsible for implementing the Digital Fairness Fitness Check, has yet to take up his post.
However, the need to focus on the proper application of the rules already in place is “indeed” a priority, stressed Isabelle Pérignon. “We need a strong implementation policy to ensure that the rules are as clear as possible”, she said. And she added: “The priority is to use our current rules to the maximum of their capacity, to continue the action already taken [against Temu or Apple, for example, editor’s note] (see EUROPE 13516/9), and to see how far we can go today with our tools”.
The possibility of specifically defining ‘dark patterns’ in the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and its annexes was also raised. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)