Brussels, BELGIUM — The political agreement on the EU’s new General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), struck by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union early this morning, will have a profound impact on the many thousands of online marketplaces active in Europe.
The co-legislators’ work on updating the European framework, in order to improve the safety of products sold both offline and online, is recognised by the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA Europe).
Throughout the year-long process, CCIA Europe has supported the GPSR’s main objectives, including the introduction of specific obligations for online marketplaces, provided the latter do not hamper Europe’s thriving e-commerce sector.
It is good news for consumers and vendors alike that the new EU rules remain aligned with the recently-adopted Digital Services Act (DSA) to a large extent when it comes to online marketplaces. Now, however, authorities can also tell online marketplaces to prevent products from being sold that are identical to ones previously flagged as dangerous. In order for this new stay-down obligation to be efficient, it will have to be further fine-tuned during its implementation.
CCIA Europe hopes that the EU will clarify how online marketplaces can comply with both the DSA and the GPSR prior to implementation of the new product safety rules.
Today’s political agreement paves the way for formal adoption of the General Product Safety Regulation by the EU institutions in early 2023.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Europe’s Policy Manager, Mathilde Adjutor:
“For online marketplaces, Europe’s new product safety rules add an extra layer of complexity on top of the recently-adopted Digital Services Act. The implementation of these overlapping rules will impact online marketplaces of all sizes.”
“Businesses and European consumers need clarity when it comes to product safety. We hope that the EU will soon shed more light on how the GPSR’s new obligations for online marketplaces will work in practice.”