Consumer Agenda 2025-2030 - Have your say

On 19 May 2025, the European Commission opened a public consultation on its Consumer Agenda 2025–2030 and the accompanying action plan on consumers in the Single Market, inviting contributions until 11 August 2025. Stakeholders are encouraged to share views via the Have Your Say portal and there is a high likelihood that shared feedback will influence the Digital Fairness Act.

The new Agenda, seeks to build on the achievements of the New Consumer Agenda 2020–2025 by strengthening consumer protection, supporting wellbeing, and driving a level playing field for businesses across the Single Market. The need for a Digital Fairness Act originated from the 2020–2025 Agenda.

Importantly for our readers tracking the Digital Fairness Act, the 2025–2030 Consumer Agenda explicitly flags the forthcoming DFA as a flagship legislative initiative to tackle manipulative and unethical practices online such as dark patterns, misleading influencer marketing, addictive design features, and problematic personalisation that fall outside the scope of the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act.

A summary of the consultation results will be published within eight weeks of the consultation’s closure.

European Consumer Summit 2025

Today, the European Consumer Summit 2025 opens in Brussels with policymakers, enforcement authorities, businesses and consumer groups convening to discuss consumer protection, cross-border e-commerce and the new Consumer Agenda. A key workshop on shaping a safe digital market for young consumers is informed by the Digital Fairness Fitness Check, underlining the areas where the upcoming Digital Fairness Act will seek to close regulatory and enforcement gaps. This event is being live streamed via the European Commission’s site.

Digital Fairness Act Public Consultation Imminent

The “Have your say” webpage for the consultation has been published which suggests that the consultation will start imminently. To be clear, it is not yet open for public feedback. The consultation is expected to last 12-week.

The webpage suggests that the final proposal for the DFA is once again pushed back, this time to the third quarter of 2026.

Initially the webpage stated that the DFA would be a directive, but when asked for clarification the Commission stated that this was a technical error and "It is not decided yet whether the DFA will take the form of a Directive or a Regulation".

CPDP.ai Conference - DFA Events to Attend

Here’s a look at the CPDP Conference 2025 panels most directly tied to the Digital Fairness Act, running 21–23 May 2025 in Brussels (CPDP Conference 2025):

• Towards the Digital Fairness Act: How to Better Protect People from Harmful Commercial Practices Online
  Maritime • Wed 21 May — 11:50–13:05
  Debates updating EU consumer law to tackle dark patterns, addictive design, influencer marketing and unfair personalisation (CPDP Conference 2025).

• Designed to Hook: The Roots of Platform Addiction and Ways Forward
  Grande Halle • Thu 22 May — 08:45–10:00
  Explores the psychology and design tactics behind addictive platforms and potential regulatory responses (CPDP Conference 2025).

• Delivering on Children’s Rights Online: An Improved Digital World for All?
  Maritime • Thu 22 May — 10:30–11:45
  Looks at how a DFA could embed age-appropriate design, data protections and safe-by-default settings for minors (CPDP Conference 2025).

• The EU’s Next Move on Online Advertising
  Grande Halle • Fri 23 May — 16:00–17:15
  Considers the post-DSA/DMA landscape and how a DFA might reshape online ad regulation and enforcement (CPDP Conference 2025).

DFA Timeline

• 19/05/2025: Consultation for the 2025–2030 Consumer Agenda

• 20/05/2025: European Consumer Summit

• Late Spring 2025: Public Consultation on the DFA

• 12/11/2025: Parliament INI - Protection of minors online

• Q4 2025: Adoption of the 2025–2030 Consumer Agenda

• Q3 2026: Commission publishes DFA proposal