The European Union is clamping down on products sold online that flout safety and consumer protection rules, according to Irish commissioner Michael McGrath.
Europeans buy more than 12.6 million small items a day online, a total of 4.6 billion a year, with 90 per cent of them coming from China, Mr McGrath told the Institute of Directors (IoD) on Thursday.
Many of these goods break the EU’s product safety or consumer protection rules, a practice the bloc intends to halt, the commissioner said.
“I will be visiting China later this year to take on that issue,” he added.
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Speaking afterwards, Mr McGrath, whose brief includes consumer protection, explained that there was no question of the EU banning the purchase of legal products.
However, he pointed out the commission has told websites to take down ads for goods breaching its rules following online product safety sweeps.
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The EU also has other options open to it, including revisiting customs rules and duties applied to goods bought digitally, the Mr McGrath noted.
Along with threats to consumers, flouting EU consumer and safety rules gives the businesses involved an unfair advantage over compliant companies, including those based in the union, Mr McGrath argued.
The commissioner, who was speaking with IoD chief executive Caroline Spillane, hopes new legislation for a harmonised company law system will pass next year.
The system will allow businesses to opt-in to an EU-wide regime with uniform rules rather than having to negotiate different laws across each of the 27 member states.
According to Mr McGrath, it will sit alongside each country’s own company law codes. He pledged that it would be an “optimal regime” with agreed common characteristics.
Businesses including developing companies in high-growth industries, which often reward workers with share options, are likely to welcome the move.
The different rules in each EU member state regulating share options and other incentives make it difficult for such companies to operate in the bloc.
This increased the risk that such businesses would move to the US, Mr McGrath pointed out.
The commissioner, whose brief also includes justice, democracy and the rule of law, said he was working on other reforms aimed at boosting the EU’s competitiveness.
These include simplifying the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) directive, to make it less burdensome on business, while continuing to protect privacy.
Meanwhile, he dubbed next year’s Irish presidency of the EU a “brilliant opportunity” for the Republic. “It means Ireland will get to set the agenda”, he said.
Mr McGrath was speaking as the IoD published research showing that about four out of 10 Irish business people view international trade tensions and tariff increases as they most significant risks they face this year.
In a statement he noted that the European Commission recognised the difficult environment in which businesses now operate.
He pointed out that the commission, Europe’s law-making and decision-making body, was pledged to aiding business in “closing the innovation gap” with the US, cutting carbon emissions and diversifying raw material supplies to avoid problems that arose during the pandemic.
