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Seldia provided input to the Call for evidence and Public Consultation on the Digital Fairness Act. Below you can find a summary of our key messages: Enforcement of consumer protection rules: effective enforcement of consumer protection rules is essential to guarantee consumers an adequate level of protection in their online interactions. To achieve this, the EU should strengthen coordination among Member States, enhance enforcement tools and resources, and make the revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation a pressing priority. Dark patterns: existing EU legislation already provides adequate provisions to address dark patterns. Rather than introducing new rules, the EU should develop coherent guidelines on the interplay between consumer protection rules and other legal frameworks to enhance legal certainty and ensure the effective protection of consumer rights. Unfair personalisation practices: restricting personalisation practices would not only hinder businesses, especially SMEs, but also limit consumer choice. We oppose restrictive measures such as an opt-in system. Harmful practices by social media influencers: influencer marketing is covered by a comprehensive legal framework, complemented by soft-law instruments, self-regulatory initiatives, training, and certifications. However, as not all Member States have followed the same approach, we recommend developing clear and simple guidelines on influencer marketing to achieve harmonisation. Unfair marketing related to pricing: given that the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive already prohibits misleading practices, any further clarification could be offered through updated guidance to reflect evolving marketing practices, rather than through new rigid rules on pricing. Issues with digital contracts: considering the current and recently revised legislation, it would be premature to introduce new measures at this stage. Simplification measures: simplifying information obligations by focusing on content that is truly relevant and useful for consumers, together with harmonised price reduction rules, would strengthen clarity and transparency across the EU. Digitalisation information: digital methods of providing and retrieving information should become the standard, enabling businesses to operate more efficiently and empowering consumers to make well-informed decisions. Horizontal issues: the existing legal framework should be maintained, avoiding disproportionate horizontal measures that could create legal uncertainty, increase costs, or limit the freedom of choice for businesses. Read  here  our response to the Call for Evidence. Read  here   our response to the Public Consultation.

After serving as Chairperson of the European Code Administrator (Seldia Ethics Committee) for five years, Professor Evelyne Terryn has resigned following her appointment as Vice-Rector of KU Leuven . We would like to thank her for her excellent work and expertise, which have guided the Ethics Committee over the past years, and to congratulate her on her new position. To continue strengthening the work of the European Code Administrator, we are pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Alberto De Franceschi as its new Chairperson . He is a professor of Private Law, Consumer and Market Law, Digital Law and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Ferrara , and serves as Ambassador’s Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability at KU Leuven. He also contributes his expertise as an Italian expert to several international organisations, and is the Editor in Chief of EuCML – Journal of European Consumer and Market Law. You can find more information about Professor Alberto De Franceschi’s impressive CV at the following link . Donwload  here  the full Seldia Press Release.

Seldia welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to create an optional 28th regime, a single, harmonised set of EU‑wide rules that companies can opt into to overcome legal fragmentation when setting up and operating across borders. Properly designed, the regime can reduce red tape and legal uncertainty for businesses of all sizes. To deliver on its promise, however, it is important that it has a broad scope, not only restricted to innovative start‑ups and scale‑ups companies. Such an approach would be consistent with the Commission’s priority of promoting EU economic grow. You can download our Response to the Public Stakeholder Consultation  here .