Laws and regulations

The European Parliament has adopted new proposals to manage the growing influx of substandard and unsafe cheap products into the European Union, from non-EU online stores. Currently, 12 million small ecommerce packages arrive in the EU every day. The new proposals could make checking their quality easier.

According to the German government, cancelling an online purchase should be as easy as placing an order. The Ministry of Justice has announced a cancellation button for online purchases of goods, services, and financial products. The perpetual right of withdrawal is being abolished.

Buying second-hand products online has become common in Germany: 55 percent of consumers bought a used product online last year. Additionally, most Germans are active sellers of used products: 52 percent offered something for sale, mainly fashion, books, and electronics.

Bevh, the German association for distance sellers, is requesting to reconsider European regulations regarding online platforms. The interest group argues that large platforms are being regulated too strictly and claims that this results in discrimination against these platforms, compared to physical competitors.

Austrian online retailers are facing increasing competition from international online stores, particularly those from Asia. One in three orders is now placed with platforms from that continent. The Chamber of Commerce is calling for concrete measures against platforms such as Shein and Temu.

Visa and Mastercard are charging retailers excessive fees, which the credit card companies raise unilaterally. As a result, they are hindering competition and innovation in the European payments market, according to several trade associations in a letter to the European Commission.

Italian company Moltiply Group, which operates popular price comparison website Trovaprezzi, has announced that it is suing Google’s parent company Alphabet. The company is seeking damages, as Google is abusing its dominant market position.

The European Commission has conducted an investigation into online traders of second-hand goods. A majority of the companies involved in the so-called sweep may be in breach of European consumer rights and will be further investigated.

The European Parliament has approved a revision of VAT rules. As a result, online platforms will be liable for VAT payments if their sales partners do not fulfill this obligation. The reform aims to prevent unfair competition and combat VAT fraud. Businesses will save billions on costs, according to policymakers in Brussels.

The EU aims to curb the influx of unsafe products entering the European market via ecommerce platforms such as Temu, Shein, and Amazon. Brussels wants to make these platforms liable for dangerous or illegal products sold online. There are also plans to establish a new EU customs authority.

Most well-known marketplaces and social media platforms are using dark patterns. These are designs that manipulate consumers into making impulsive purchases, or into revealing more data. Using these patterns is banned under the DSA. Stricter regulations seem necessary, say researchers.

A new European regulation imposes strict requirements on products sales in the EU market. Many online stores and marketplaces sellers in the United Kingdom lack sufficient arrangements and have opted to stop selling to customers in the EU altogether.

With 16.3 million monthly users, Temu is more popular in Germany than anywhere else in the European Union. The more well-known Shein attracts more attention in France, Spain, and Italy, but generates the most revenue in Europe in Germany.

The European Commission is starting a formal investigation into Temu, to see if the platform does enough to combat the sale of illegal products, amongst other issues. It also has ongoing investigations into other platforms, like AliExpress.

Next year, Asian online marketplaces Shein's and Temu's growth rates will drop significantly. This is predicted in a report published by Forrester. The expected decline is related to current complaints about the marketplaces.