EU : Focus on the main regulatory changes for e-commerce in 2025

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 The aim is to improve the handling of products that need to be withdrawn for safety reasons, since it will be easier to identify these products, and to know where they are in the value chain so that they can be withdrawn from a market.”…