Germany, Austria, Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands and France call for a unified approach to the application of EU standards in e-commerce.
Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland called for tougher enforcement of legislation against e-commerce platforms in a joint letter, Euronews reports.
The six countries are demanding that the European Commission take “all necessary measures within its competence” to enforce the Digital Services Act (DSA) against very large online platforms (VLOPs).
The designation of Temu and Shein online markets as VLOPs “is a significant step” in implementing the rules, but “strict enforcement of the DSA remains critical,” the letter said.
Temu and Shein joined a total of 25 platforms, each with over 45 million monthly users in the EU. Among them are Amazon, TikTok and Meta.
The DSA came into effect in February 2024 for all online platforms, introducing transparency rules and obligations regarding illegal products.
The letter said the EC should collect data on infringements in cooperation with national digital service coordinators to detect infringements and impose effective sanctions.
“Additional steps in enforcement measures will be necessary. Digitization of product specifications is crucial for automatic detection of defects, such as through a digital product passport,” the document added.
In its policy guidelines, the EC commits to stricter enforcement of e-commerce based on effective customs, tax and security controls.
In the future collegium, Finnish Hena Virkkunen will oversee the technology portfolio, and Irishman Michael McGrath, who will oversee the rule of law, also has e-commerce among his competencies.
The EC has already launched several investigations under the law in question, including against the e-commerce platform AliExpress.
The parties are also calling for stricter market surveillance in EU member states through stronger intervention powers for authorities in terms of their ability to take action against e-commerce platforms.
“We intend to further strengthen automation and control, for example through web-searching,” they wrote, adding that this should ensure that consumers, and children in particular, have safe products.
As for EU customs, the six member states want to prioritize ongoing discussions in the area of ​​VAT and the application of the deemed importer principle and the removal of the €150 duty exemption.
Germany is encouraging Hungary, which currently chairs EU ministerial meetings, and the EC to move forward with discussions on these proposals.
The last priority is data protection. The EU executive will need to understand more about the data collected by e-commerce platforms and how they use that data, the letter insists.
It was sent shortly before the meeting of competitiveness ministers in Brussels, which takes place today.
There they will discuss further European competitiveness and ways to address the challenges facing industry and businesses in the single market.
In addition, they will consider the report of former Italian Prime Minister and former ECB President Mario Draghi on competitiveness.
