This article aims to analyse the unfolding developments in EU consumer law, which point towards the adoption of a new law entitled the Digital Fairness Act. This act, in parallel with the revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, plans to address the consumer law challenges of the digital economy. The article delves into the questionable approach adopted by the European Commission, which sees the solution to the digital economy’s consumer problems in adopting a legislative act, hand in hand with some degree of centralization favouring the Commission. This article argues that the challenges identified by the Commission cannot be overcome with new legislative means and the method of establishing exclusive EU competence in certain instances, and that a competence-sharing mechanism similar to that found in EU competition law is suitable to address these new challenges. This should be paired with the empowerment of public consumer protection agencies at national level, modelled on the ECN+ Directive.
Common Market Law Review