88 organisations call on the EU to close the e-commerce accountability gap

88 organisations urge the EU to close the e-commerce accountability gap

The EEB has joined a coalition of 88 industry, consumer and environmental associations in a letter to European Commission Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné, calling for urgent action on the flood of non-compliant products entering the EU through online platforms.

In 2025 alone, an estimated 5.9 billion low-value parcels entered the Union from third countries. Large-scale customs actions show that many of these goods breach EU rules on product safety, ecodesign, energy labelling, intellectual property and Extended Producer Responsibility. At the heart of the problem is a simple gap. In many cases there is no economic operator established in the EU who can be held responsible for compliance.

The signatories urge the Commission to use the forthcoming European Product Act to fix this. They call for every product placed on the EU market to have a clearly identified economic operator inside the EU or EEA, legally responsible for compliance. Where no such operator exists, online platforms should be recognised as the responsible economic operator themselves.

The letter warns that Europe’s high standards for safety, sustainability and consumer protection only work if they are enforced across every sales channel. Further delays, it says, are not acceptable.