Germany, together with Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and France call for a strong and unified European approach to address the challenges in E-Commerce regarding direct imports of products from third countries violating European standards. Consumer protection and market surveillance authorities have found that many of these products do not comply with EU requirements in areas such as product safety, environmental protection, health, intellectual property and consumer protection. As a result, they pose serious risks to consumers and disrupt fair competition within the European internal market - affecting not only retailers but also manufacturers of consumer goods. Germany has requested to add the e-commerce topic at the Competitiveness Council on 26th September, supported by Austria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Poland.

To ensure fair competition and protect consumers in the EU, it is essential to strictly enforce compliance with applicable EU regulations by manufacturers and e-commerce platforms, including those products coming from third countries. Germany, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and France urge the European Commission to take all necessary measures to strictly enforce the Digital Services Act against “very large online platforms”. As a first step, the Commission should collect comprehensive data on infringements in cooperation with the national digital services coordinators in order to identify systemic misconduct and impose effective sanctions.

Moreover, enhanced market surveillance across EU member states is essential. This includes strengthening the intervention powers of market surveillance authorities, in particular regarding their ability to act on e-commerce platforms. Increased cooperation and coordination between market surveillance and customs authorities throughout the EU is needed. Automation and digitalization of controls by market surveillance authorities, e.g. through web-crawlers, should be pursued more intensively to protect consumers - in particular children - from dangerous products.

With regard to the EU custom reform, Germany, Austria, Denmark, France and the Netherlands ask the Commission and the Council for prioritizing the discussions of proposals for the e-commerce sector, including the implementation of the deemed importer and the removal of the 150 EUR duty exemption. To make the removal of the 150 EUR duty exemption manageable, it must be accompanied by additional measures, envisaged within the EU Custom Reform package and improving and safeguarding the Import One-Stop Shop within the Valued Added Tax framework.

A well-coordinated approach at the EU and at national level is crucial in order to achieve these objectives.