On 13 November 2020, the European Commission adopted the New Consumer Agenda, establishing a strategic framework for EU consumer policy until 2025.
The upcoming Consumer Agenda 2025–2030 will build on the 2020 Agenda, setting out renewed priorities and actions to address both current and future challenges in consumer policy.

Enrico Letta’s report Much more than a market highlighted that consumers must be placed at the heart of the Single Market and should be empowered and protected to drive economic growth, innovation, and sustainability.

Mario Draghi’s report also underscored the need to create a truly integrated Single Market. In her political guidelines for 2024–2029, President Ursula von der Leyen set out goals in support of sustainable prosperity, competitiveness, democracy, and social justice.

In this context, the Commission is preparing to present, in the fourth quarter of 2025, a Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions.

The Communication aims to address a range of challenges affecting consumers and businesses at EU level, including:

• Barriers that continue to prevent consumers and businesses from fully benefiting from the Single Market. For instance, restrictions on delivery and payment still hinder cross-border online shopping, while cross-border service provision remains limited in certain business sectors.

• The ongoing development of e-commerce, which presents numerous challenges for consumers and businesses, such as the increasing circulation of unsafe products from outside the EU and difficulties in enforcing consumer protection and fair competition rules, particularly in relation to traders established outside the EU.

• New technologies and data-driven practices are sometimes used in ways that undermine consumer choice. There remains significant uncertainty around how existing consumer protection legislation should apply in the digital environment. As a result, consumer protection is weakened — particularly in the face of online unfair commercial practices involving dark patterns, misleading influencer marketing, and the design of addictive digital products.

• The broader set of EU digital rules addresses several risks, but legal analysis reveals potential gaps. For example, the Digital Services Regulation covers many harmful practices by online platforms but does not extend to the practices of online retailers, online games, or other non-intermediated content that may still pose risks to consumers.

• Vulnerable consumer groups, including older people and individuals with disabilities or reduced mobility, face specific challenges in accessing and affording essential goods and services, as well as in adapting to new technologies and market trends. In the online environment, children are particularly exposed to unethical techniques, scams, harmful content, and risks to safety and mental health.

As a result, consumer mobility faces structural challenges, and there is a need to adapt the EU consumer policy governance framework to meet these challenges. Both are essential for the effective functioning of the Single Market, for evidence-based EU policymaking, and for efficient cooperation among all relevant stakeholders at both EU and international levels.

Our team is available for further information.