Four proposals for how EU digital consumer protection rules can strengthen trust without holding back Europe’s growing businesses.
By Ben Brake, Director General of DOT Europe.
The Baltic economies are among the most digitalised in Europe. For many Latvian businesses, from online retailers to subscription services and apps, the Single Market is not a distant ambition. It is their customer base from day one. That makes Riga a useful place to consider a question Brussels is currently grappling with: how far should the EU go in regulating the design of online services?
Two pieces of legislation will shape the answer. The recently proposed EU Kids Act aims to ensure age-appropriate access to online services. It also calls for safety by design, including restrictions on features such as autoplay and engagement-based rewards on social media and video-sharing platforms. The Digital Fairness Act, expected this November, will examine automatic subscription renewals, personalised offers, influencer marketing, and how websites and apps present choices to consumers.
Our industry supports the goal of protecting consumers online, especially minors. The question is how to achieve this without adding complexity that falls most heavily on small and growing businesses. This matters particularly now, when Europe has made competitiveness and simplification key priorities. As I arrive in Riga with a business delegation, I see four areas that could make a decisive difference.
One European Rulebook, Not 27
For a company in Riga selling to customers in Berlin or Lyon, few things are as costly as rules that change at every border. Over the past year, several Member States have developed their own laws governing minors’ access to social media, each taking a different approach.
The European Commission was right to signal that a European-wide solution should take precedence, and the Kids Act sends precisely that message. The Digital Fairness Act should follow the same logic. Where it regulates, it should provide full harmonisation, leaving no room for additional national requirements that would recreate the very fragmentation the Act is meant to prevent.
Small, open markets with extensive cross-border trade, such as Latvia, demonstrate most clearly why this matters. A rule interpreted differently in every country is, in practice, 27 different rules.
Enforce Existing Rules First
Europe is not starting from a blank page. The Digital Services Act (DSA) already prohibits deceptive interface design on online platforms and requires a high level of protection for minors. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive already cover misleading practices, pricing and contracts.
In Latvia, the Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC) already supervises compliance with the DSA.
Before introducing new obligations, the EU should establish where existing rules genuinely fall short and where they are simply not yet being enforced consistently. Clear guidance and coordinated enforcement can often deliver more for consumers than another law, and do so faster.
Simplification Businesses Can Actually Feel
Simplification should not remain a promise made in policy announcements. The Digital Fairness Act offers an opportunity to make consumer protection rules easier to apply, rather than simply expanding them.
During the Commission’s public consultation, businesses and their associations proposed concrete solutions. One is to reduce repetitive information requirements for recurring transactions, such as in-app purchases. Another is to strike a better balance in withdrawal rights for digital subscription services while preserving consumers’ right to change their minds.
For a start-up with a small legal team, such changes free up time and money to invest in better products.
Simpler rules can also mean better protection. A consumer who receives one clear notice is likely to read it. A consumer who receives ten may read none of them.
Clear Boundaries Between Laws
The EU Kids Act and the Digital Fairness Act partly cover the same areas: addictive design, engagement-based features and the protection of vulnerable users.
Add other existing consumer protection laws, and a company may find itself having to comply with several sets of obligations for a single feature, potentially overseen by different authorities.
Each piece of legislation needs a clearly defined scope. The EU should explain how these laws fit together before they enter into force, not afterwards.
Legal certainty matters most to those with the fewest lawyers. These are the smaller companies deciding whether to invest and expand across the Single Market.
Consumer trust and competitiveness are not opposing goals. European digital businesses depend on customers who trust them, and consumers benefit from a market in which new services can grow.
Latvia shows that a small, open economy can achieve both. The Digital Fairness Act should be designed with businesses like those operating in Riga in mind. If it is consistent across Member States, builds on what already works and is simple to apply, it will serve the entire Single Market well.
