European Commission

On November 12, 2025, the European Commission launched two public consultations that could significantly reshape EU product compliance rules. To participate, stakeholders – including businesses, consumer groups, and industry associations – are invited to complete the Commission’s online questionnaires, available until February 4, 2026.Continue Reading Help Shape the Future of EU Product Compliance: Participate in the Public Consultations

Digital contracts and subscriptions have significantly increased, with the subscription economy tripling since 2017, according to the European Commission’s Digital Fairness Act Fitness Check. However, the Fitness Check points out that the number of issues with digital subscriptions, such as difficult cancellations, automatic renewals without reminders, and unclear subscription terms, have also increased. The Commission proposes to tackle these issues in its proposed Digital Fairness Act (“DFA”), which recently entered its consultation phase (see our blog post here).

This post briefly highlights certain issues with digital subscriptions identified in the Fitness Check, outlines how these issues are currently regulated in the EU, and considers the Fitness Check’s proposals to address these issues. It is the fourth post in our series on the upcoming DFA – previous posts covered influencer marketing, AI chatbots in consumer interactions, and personalised advertising and pricing.Continue Reading Digital Fairness Act Series — Topic 4: Digital Subscriptions

On 15 July 2025, the European Commission adopted an adequacy decision for the European Patent Organisation (EPO).  This marks the first time such a decision has been granted to an international organisation.  From now on, personal data can be transferred from the EU to the EPO based on this decision, without the need for additional safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs).Continue Reading Adequacy Decision for the European Patent Organisation

On May 13, 2025, the European Commission issued its draft Guidelines on the protection of minors online under the DSA (“the Guidelines”).  The Guidelines aim to support providers of online platforms that are “accessible to minors” with meeting their obligation to ensure “a high level of privacy, safety, and security” for minors under Article 28(1) of the Digital Services Act (“DSA”).

Below we provide an overview of the Guidelines and key takeaways.Continue Reading European Commission Publishes Draft Guidelines on the Protection of Minors under the DSA

The European Commission (“Commission”) is working on a new EU consumer protection law called the Digital Fairness Act (“DFA”) to better protect consumers in the digital space.  The DFA is expected to regulate, among other things, influencer marketing. 

With EU consumer protection watchdogs starting to bring cases against companies whose products or services are promoted by influencers (see for example here), the DFA’s provisions may apply not only to influencers, but also to companies that deploy or use influencers, to ensure that advertising practices are fair and transparent.  This blog post explores two key issues that the European Commission is expected to prioritize in its approach to influencer marketing.  It also provides a brief overview of the French legal framework in this area, which some expect to serve as a model for the EU’s forthcoming rules in this area.Continue Reading Digital Fairness Act Series – Topic 1: Influencer Marketing

On March 13, 2025, the Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, confirmed that the Commission is considering simplifying the GDPR with a view to reducing the burden on smaller businesses.  This statement aligns with the Commission’s broader goal of simplifying the EU digital framework.Continue Reading European Commission Confirms Plans to Simplify GDPR

On October 3, 2024, the European Commission published a report evaluating the effectiveness of existing EU consumer protection laws in protecting consumers in the digital space.  More specifically, the report assesses the effectiveness of the following three consumer protection laws: (i) the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (“UCPD”); (ii) the Consumer Rights Directive (“CRD”); and (iii) the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (“UCTD”).  It also identifies and analyses the main provisions in the DSA, DMA, Data Act, and AI Act that are of particular relevance for protecting consumers in the digital environment.  The report is the result of the 2022 public consultation we mentioned in our previous blog post.Continue Reading EU Commission Publishes Report Assessing EU Consumer Laws and Paves Way for New and Stronger EU Consumer Law for the Digital Space

On September 12, 2024, the European Commission announced that it will launch a public consultation on additional standard contractual clauses for international transfers of personal data to non-EU controllers and processors that are subject to the EU GDPR extra-territorially (“Additional SCCs”), something that has been promised by the European Commission as far back as 2022.  The public consultation is planned for the last quarter of 2024.Continue Reading EU Commission Announces New SCCs for International Transfers to Non-EU Controllers and Processors Subject to the GDPR

On 12 July 2024, EU lawmakers published the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (“AI Act”), a first-of-its-kind regulation aiming to harmonise rules on AI models and systems across the EU. The AI Act prohibits certain AI practices, and sets out regulations on “high-risk” AI systems, certain AI systems that pose transparency risks, and general-purpose AI (GPAI) models.Continue Reading EU Artificial Intelligence Act Published

Last month, the European Commission published a draft Implementing Regulation (“IR”) under the EU’s revised Network and Information Systems Directive (“NIS2”). The draft IR applies to entities in the digital infrastructure sector, ICT service management and digital service providers (e.g., cloud computing providers, online marketplaces, and online social networks). It sets out further detail on (i) the specific cybersecurity risk-management measures those entities must implement; and (ii) when an incident affecting those entities is considered to be “significant”. Once finalized, it will apply from October 18, 2024.

Many companies may be taken aback by the granular nature of some of the technical measures listed and the criteria to determine if an incident is significant and reportable – especially coming so close to the October deadline for Member States to start applying their national transpositions of NIS2.

The IR is open for feedback via the Commission’s Have Your Say portal until July 25.Continue Reading NIS2: Commission Publishes Long-Awaited Draft Implementing Regulation On Technical And Methodological Requirements And Significant Incidents