On July 17, 2025, the European Commission launched a “call for evidence” and public consultation on the Digital Fairness Act (“DFA”), an anticipated new consumer protection law. The Commission seeks feedback on existing EU consumer protection laws and on proposals for how the DFA could address the following two problems with the existing laws, as identified through a “Fitness Check” of EU consumer law published in October 2024:

• Lack of digital fairness for consumers. This particularly affects vulnerable groups such as minors, offering them suboptimal choices that can lead to financial harm, loss of time, negative health impacts, and indirect effects like environmental costs.
• Unclear rules for businesses and market fragmentation. This results in increased business costs, hampers cross-border trade, leads to missed opportunities, and causes unfair competition, particularly from non-EU traders.

The Commission has also emphasized its objective to enhance the EU’s competitiveness, aiming for simplification of consumer protection rules and the removal of barriers within the EU Market. This includes efforts to achieve greater legal certainty regarding unfair commercial practices. The goal is to address enforcement deficiencies, regulatory gaps, and market fragmentation, as some Member States have regulated or are considering new regulation in these areas.