Commission strengthens consumer protection laws in the digital age

The European Commission presented its Proposal for a Digital Fairness Act (DFA) - a major update of the EU consumer protection rules to ensure that consumers in the EU enjoy the same high level of protection online as they do offline.

Alongside it, the Commission proposed a revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation (CPC Regulation), granting the Commission stronger powers to directly investigate and issue fines in large-scale cases that have a significant impact on consumers across the Single Market.

Key novelties of the proposal include:

• A ban on manipulative marketing tactics (so-called “dark patterns”) such as fake claims that a product is almost sold out;
• Fairness by design, with the option for consumers to turn off addictive design features;
• Clear and transparent pricing, particularly prices of purchases made with virtual in-app currencies and when dynamic pricing is used for cultural and sports events;
• Clear disclosure of influencer marketing, requiring influencers to be transparent about commercial content;
• A restriction on unfair personalised ads and prices that target minors or take advantage of sensitive data;
• Digital contracts and subscriptions that are easier to cancel and an end to unwanted automatic renewals and free trials.

Next steps: The proposals will now be discussed by the European Parliament and Council.

More details to be found in the Commission’s press release of 11 November 2026.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_2407