Meeting in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) on Thursday 26 June, MEPs overwhelmingly endorsed (39 votes in favour, one against) the final version of the draft report by Italy’s Salvatore De Meo (EPP) on the safety and conformity of products from online commerce, particularly those from China (see EUROPE 13617/14).
The compromise amendments to the text take up the main points raised during the previous debates: ensuring sufficient resources for customs and bodies responsible for detecting dangerous products, strengthening the application of the DSA and ensuring the compliance of platforms located outside the EU, rapidly reviewing and adapting the ‘CPC’ regulation on consumer protection and abolishing the customs threshold of €150 (see EUROPE 13664/15).
MEPs are still in favour of the handling fee on small parcels proposed by the Commission, at €2 per parcel (see EUROPE 13644/13), and insist that Member States “avoid unilateral fees to avoid a fragmentation of the Customs Union”.
The report also calls for the introduction of a ‘Digital Fairness Act’ to tackle “online marketplaces [...] employing manipulative practices”, including “dark patterns, addictive design features, deceptive influencer marketing, and the dissemination of fake or misleading online reviews dark patterns” (see EUROPE 13644/10).
From the Commission’s point of view, the future reform of the Customs Code, which ideally should reach a political conclusion by the end of the year, is once again presented as the best solution on the table.
To see the compromise amendments, go to https://aeur.eu/f/hl6 (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)