In the span of 5 years, e-commerce has seen almost 20 regulatory directory texts at a European level. Driven by a need to update the current legal framework, the cornerstone of which remains the 20-year-old e-commerce directive, these regulations have multiplied since Covid-19. “The strong growth of the 2020s and 2021s has caught the attention of legislators, and highlighted the importance of regulating this market”, according to Moncef Lameche, Head of Public Affairs at Fevad, who refers to “normative inflation”.
The General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)
This regulation (2023/988), which replaces a directive, was adopted by the EU in 2023. This applies to all products (new, non-new, reconditioned) and to all companies selling in Europe online and in stores. According to Juliette Beaulaton, Policy Director at Ecommerce Europe, “The Commission has chosen to legislate by means of a regulation, a directly applicable text with a very broad scope. Here, company size is irrelevant. It’s true that large companies will be subject to stricter rules, but micro-businesses and SMEs are also affected.”
Application timetable
December 13, 2024: in force for all businesses, including e-commerce.
Points to remember
Retailers will have to assess new risk categories their products generate. “They’re going to have to assess the scalability of a product,” said Juliette Beaulaton. “This regulation will also introduce internal procedures to improve product traceability. The aim is to improve the handling of products that need to be withdrawn for safety reasons, since it will be easier to identify these products, and to know where they are in the value chain so that they can be withdrawn from a market.”
Following the same logic as with DSA, marketplaces will need to collect more information on seller identification. Thanks to this facilitated identification, a dangerous product will be easier to remove on other sites.
Retailers will also have to set up a point of contact to quickly inform consumers about product safety.
The Ecodesign Regulation (ESPR)
The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation aims to make sustainable products a standard. This replaces a directive that applied to energy-consuming products (televisions, or dishwashers) and rules on their use. As a regulation, it is directly applicable and the same in all EU countries, unlike a directive, which is transposed into the regulatory context of each country.
These rules will apply to virtually all product categories (excluding food products, medicines, plants, animals), starting with fashion (sold online, in stores, new and second-hand).
