Who’s the fairest of them all? DFA plans to transform online consumer protection

At a time when policy momentum is strongly in favour of simplifying and streamlining digital regulation to boost EU competitiveness, the European Commission is nevertheless taking steps to introduce a new, ambitious proposal in the form of a Digital Fairness Act (DFA). The planned initiative aims to address concerns about unfair digital practices that undermine consumer rights in the digital environment, such as addictive designs and user interfaces using “dark patterns” to trick users into making unintended decisions or purchases online.

The planned DFA follows on from the Commission’s “Digital Fairness Fitness Check” published on 3 October 2024, which evaluated the extent to existing laws have achieved EU policy objectives. The Fitness Check covered three core Directives: the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the Consumer Rights Directive, and the Unfair Contract Terms Directive. Its results indicated that while these rules remain both relevant and necessary to ensure a high level of consumer protection in the Digital Single Market, there has also been a high level of consumer complaints about unfair online practices.

The evaluation stated that the effectiveness of EU consumer protection is undermined by insufficient enforcement, legal uncertainty and different national approaches in the Member States, in addition to a lack of incentives for businesses to aim for the highest standard of protection. It suggested that various harmful commercial practices online cost EU consumers at least €7.9 billion per year. Notably, the Fitness Check pointed to the existence of “gaps of protection” in certain areas, despite the wave of new digital regulation in recent years.

In the current mandate, protection of consumers online and “digital fairness” falls under the responsibility of Michael McGrath, Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection. The “mission letter” he received from Commission President Von der Leyen in December 2024, called on him to develop a Digital Fairness Act to tackle unethical techniques and commercial practices related to dark patterns, marketing by social media influencers, the addictive design of digital products and online profiling, especially when consumer vulnerabilities are exploited for commercial purposes.

According to the mission letter, the DFA should address identified gaps to strengthen consumer protection and enforcement, without duplicating or reopening the recently decided digital rulebook (Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Markets Act (DMA), AI Act etc.)

In recent comments to the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) in May 2025, Commission McGrath referred to "missing pieces of the puzzle" which result in consumers are still losing time, money and trust to unfair practices.

According to reports, he stated that the Commission is looking to introduce a DFA proposal that will “neither duplicate nor reopen” matters already addressed in previously adopted legislation. The plans would instead include burden reduction and simplification measures, such as reducing information requirements in repetitive transactions like in-app purchases.

A recent presentation by Martins Prieditis, Deputy Head of Unit for Consumer Law at the European Commission’s DG Justice & Consumers, provided more insights into the expected proposal.

Priority areas identified include:

• Dark patterns:
  • misleading choice architecture, shaming, pressuring, creating click fatigue, urgency and scarcity claims
• Addictive design:
  • infinite scrolling, autoplay, penalties for disengagement, reminders;
• Influencer marketing:
  • hidden commercial communications
  • promotion of harmful products
• Unfair personalisation:
  • targeting based on sensitive data and vulnerabilities
  • targeting minors
  • personalised pricing
• Digital Contracts:
  • difficult cancellations
  • unwanted renewals and conversions from free trials/promotional offers to paid subscriptions
  • right to contact human interlocutor regarding a problem with the contract
  • consumer protection in automated contracts
• Pricing practices:
  • ‘Drip’ pricing i.e.,initially presenting a low price for goods or service but incrementally increasing the final cost with additional charges
  • dynamic pricing e.g., charging a higher price at a time of greater demand
  • misleading price comparisons
  • virtual currencies

In addition, Mr Prieditis has pointed to potential areas for simplification including the following:

• Consumer information:
  • repetitive contracts with the same trader (in-app purchases)
  • contracts concluded via AI assistants (automated contracts)
  • traders only engaged in advertising (such as influencers) would have an exemption from the requirement to indicate geographical address
• Right of withdrawal in digital media content subscriptions
• Price reductions regarding perishable goods

In conclusion, the DFA, as currently planned, could prove to be an expansive piece of legislation. Once a proposal is launched by the Commission, it will be referred to the European Parliament for discussion and amendment. It is likely that MEPs will wish to expand its scope into other areas, leading to renewed debate about issues previously addressed in the DSA, AI Act and other recently adopted digital regulations.

Consumer advocacy groups are welcoming the DFA initiative, saying that it will address longstanding concerns about online manipulation. Nevertheless, there will be strong and sustained push back from the tech and media industries already grappling with the substantial compliance burden of the existing digital regulatory framework.

Next steps

The European Commission is currently preparing an impact assessment and plans to launch a public consultation on the DFA before the summer break. An eventual proposal is planned for the third quarter of 2026. Finally, it is worth noting that the current Commission public consultation on the Consumer Agenda 2025-2030, which is open until 11 August 2025, also includes aspects relevant to the development of the DFA.