European Parliament IMCO Report Falls Short on Product Compliance Online

“While the recognition of widespread non-compliance in online sales and the acknowledgment that the current system fails to adequately address these issues are welcome, it is disappointing that the report stops short of proposing a meaningful solution to a problem that undermines the integrity of the Internal Market and erodes the competitiveness of European companies”, stressed Elena Scaroni, Secretary General of LightingEurope.

“EU legislation should ensure that there is always an economic operator established in the EU for the products sold on the EU market, whether offline or online. Neither the Digital Services Act, nor the General Product Safety Regulation are setting requirements that are ambitious enough to close the existing legal loophole”, added Marion Ebel, Director of Corporate Affairs.

The 2024 results of our mystery shopping exercise reveal alarmingly high rates of non-compliance among lighting products sold on online marketplaces in the EU. Of the 275 products surveyed (G4 lamps on mains, LED strips and Children’s Night lamps), 100% of those inspected online were found to be non-compliant. In addition, 20 products, including children's night lights and LED strips, were selected and tested against the relevant safety standards in an accredited laboratory, and all were found to be non-compliant.

“By failing to assign liability to online marketplaces in cases where products are sold by non-EU sellers with no identifiable importer, authorised representative, or fulfilment service provider, the EU effectively enables a system that facilitates the entry of non-compliant products into the Union. This not only overburdens already stretched Market Surveillance Authorities but also places compliant European businesses at a competitive disadvantage”, concluded Marion Ebel.

For more information, please contact Elena Scaroni, Secretary General of LightingEurope, though elena.scaroni@lightingeurope.org.