Europe’s consumer rulebook is strong. Its enforcement remains patchy and unequal. Today, 27 national authorities may read and apply the same rules in 27 ways, so a practice accepted in one Member State can be sanctioned in the next.
The Digital Fairness Fitness Check identified “multifaceted impediments to effective enforcement”. The revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Regulation is the opportunity to remove them. The European Tech Alliance (EUTA), the voice of European-born and headquartered tech companies, calls on the European Commission to put forward an ambitious proposal that ends this patchwork and brings a common reading of the rules across the EU. Getting this right means equal protection for consumers, legal certainty for companies and fair competition across the Single Market.
1. One rule, one meaning across Europe.
Deterrence varies widely from one country to the next. Consumers are not equally protected, and businesses cannot design once for 450 million people. The CPC revision should promote a common interpretation of EU consumer law, so that the same conduct leads to the same outcome wherever enforcement takes place. Where the Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, GDPR, competition or product safety rules also apply, it must be clear which system takes precedence, to ensure that no conduct is investigated twice or left unaddressed.
2. One market, one procedure.
Direct enforcement powers for the Commission in clearly defined cases are welcome, on one condition: they must not duplicate national enforcement or create a parallel European track alongside the national and CPC procedures.
3. Fair procedures that make enforcement meaningful.
The revised CPC Regulation should guarantee proportionality and due process: the right to be heard, access to the file, workable deadlines and a right of appeal. They make procedures more robust and less likely to be overturned, which serves consumers as much as companies. A cross-border whistleblower channel at CPC level, open to anonymous reports, would also help authorities detect harm to consumers that national channels miss.
4. Address the greatest harms consumers face.
Enforcement efforts should go where the risk to consumers is highest. A risk-based trigger keeps them there. Size alone says little about risk: large companies are not harmful by default, nor are small ones safe. Cases should be prioritised according to the nature, scale and likelihood of harm to consumers. The toolbox should be equipped for serious cross-border infringements, whatever a company’s origin, as fragmented enforcement has let rogue actors, often established outside the EU, slip through the cracks.
Making consumer protection mean the same everywhere
Every European consumer deserves the same protection, wherever they live and whoever they buy from. The fastest way to deliver it is effective enforcement of existing rules and closer cooperation between authorities across Europe, so that the same practice leads to the same verdict everywhere.
EUTA stands ready to work with the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council to deliver a CPC review that strengthens consumer trust and lets companies that play by the rules compete on equal terms.
About the European Tech Alliance
EUTA represents leading European tech companies that provide innovative products and services to more than one billion users. Our 41 EUTA member companies from 16 European countries are popular and have earned the trust of consumers. As companies born and bred in Europe, for whom the EU is a crucial market, we have a deep commitment to European citizens and values.
With the right conditions, our companies can strengthen Europe’s resilience and technological autonomy, protect and empower users online, and promote Europe’s values of transparency, rule of law and innovation to the rest of the world.
The EUTA calls for boosting Europe’s tech competitiveness by having an ambitious EU tech strategy to overcome growth obstacles, making a political commitment to clear, targeted and risk-based rules, and enforcing rules consistently to match the globalised market we are in.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Victoria de Posson, EUTA Secretary General
E-mail: victoria@eutechalliance.eu
E-mail: info@eutechalliance.eu
Phone: +32 476 25 08 16
www.eutechalliance.eu
