Answer given by Executive Vice-President Virkkunen on behalf of the European Commission
21.1.2025
The Commission takes seriously the risks related to online marketplaces, in particular related to unsafe and illegal products sold online in the EU.
There are rules on the exemption of liability of online intermediaries since 2000 in EU law. The Digital Services Act (DSA)[1] confirmed and supplemented them with some specific conditions for online marketplaces.
Furthermore, it introduced specific due diligence obligations for providers of online platforms, specifically, to address the specific challenges posed by online marketplaces (Articles 29 to 32).
For very large online platforms, the DSA requires them to assess and effectively mitigate the systemic risks that their services pose to a high-level of consumer protection enshrined in Article 38 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and the person’s physical well-being.
This is intended to cover the risks represented to consumers in the context of transactions intermediated by very large online marketplaces, such as the sale of illegal products.
Providers of online marketplaces are therefore liable under the DSA for the compliance with these due diligence obligations.
Complementing the horizontal framework of the DSA, the General Product Safety Regulation[2] introduces product safety obligations for providers of online marketplaces and reinforces product traceability requirements and the Product Liability Directive[3] clarifies that online platforms too can be held liable for the damage caused by a defective product, under certain conditions and, for instance, when such a product does not comply with safety legislation.
The EU Customs Reform proposal[4], under negotiation, proposes measures to strengthen the capacity of customs and other authorities to enforce compliance with EU rules .
- [1] Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market For Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act), OJ L 277, 27.10.2022, p. 1-102.
- [2] Regulation (EU) 2023/988 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on general product safety, amending Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and the Council, and repealing Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 87/357/EEC, OJ L 135, 23.5.2023, p. 1-51.
- [3] Directive (EU) 2024/2853 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 on liability for defective products and repealing Council Directive 85/374/EEC, OJ L, 2024/2853, 18.11.2024.
- [4] Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Union Customs Code and the European Union Customs Authority, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 952/2013, COM(2023) 258 final.