Will the Digital Fairness Act be a Regulation?

By James Tamim - 09/12/2024

Instead of an ambitious regulation the Digital Fairness Act may emerge as a modest package of amendments in the face of pushback.

Not a Regulation?

Contrary to popular assumptions, it is possible that the Digital Fairness Act will not be a regulation. Instead, it may end up being a package of instruments including amendments to past regulations and directives. This is according to Christoph Busch who has highlighted this as a possibility after attending the Commission’s latest Consumer Policy Advisory Group (CPAG) meeting. It is unclear if this was the stated desire of a specific stakeholder or if the Commission explicitly expressed this as a possibility. As we have seen so far, most MEPs who have spoken on the DFA or Fitness Check, while highlighting certain necessary changes, do not appear to strongly support an ambitious version of the DFA. Actors who are anxious about additional red tape seem to currently have an upper hand as concerns over the EU’s inability to create rivals to Amazon and Meta are growing. The Commission is understandably remaining vague on its plans for the DFA at this early stage, but this means anything is possible. The DFA may indeed only be a patch, or package of amendments rather than an ambitious regulation like the DSA.

CERRE Report Identifies Questions to Address for the DFA To Succeed

Last week, CERRE published a paper authored by Amelia Fletcher and Christoph Busch titled “Shaping the Future of European Consumer Protection: Towards a Digital Fairness Act?”. Rather than offering immediate policy recommendations, Busch and Fletcher present foundational questions to guide future debates on the Digital Fairness Act. Ultimately, they aim to reconcile various policy objectives: “ensuring a high level of consumer protection in the digital environment and facilitating effective enforcement, while promoting competitiveness and growth, which in turn requires avoiding over-regulation”. The paper addresses the five areas for improvement identified by the Commission from its Digital Fairness Fitness Check:

  1. Addressing the most harmful problematic practices.

  2. Reducing legal uncertainty, preventing regulatory fragmentation between Member States and promoting fair growth/competitiveness.

  3. Consistent application of EU consumer law and other EU digital legislation.

  4. More effective enforcement and compliance with EU consumer law.

  5. Simplifying existing rules, without compromising a high level of consumer protection.

In Other DFA News

  • Michael McGrath is bringing in experts from DG Justice and Commissioner Reynders’s office. Two notable recruits join McGrath’s team to work on the Digital Fairness Act. Egelyn Braun who was responsible for the Fitness Check is now policy coordinator in McGrath’s cabinet. Lucie Rousselle who had previously worked under Didier Reynders on consumer policy will also join McGrath’s cabinet.

  • The public consultation on the DFA announced by Isabelle Pérignon is expected to start in spring 2025 according to Contexte.

  • DigitalEurope publicly calls for the Commission to “halt plans for a Digital Fairness Act” in Politico.

Upcoming DFA Events

Allied For Startups is hosting an event on the Digital Fairness Act on December 11th, from 11:00 to 13:30 in Brussels.

Are you organising an event on the Digital Fairness Act? Let us know and we will notify our subscribers on our next newsletter!