The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is pressing the EU to urgently tighten rules on third-country e-commerce platforms such as Temu and Shein, warning that their rapid expansion is undermining fair competition, consumer protection and regulatory compliance.

In an opinion adopted at its September plenary session, the EESC said the EU’s toolbox for safe and sustainable e-commerce, published in February 2025, was extremely useful but ‘lacked urgency’ and must be implemented without delay, backed by coordinated enforcement at EU, national and regional level.

The rapporteur for the opinion, Antje Gerstein, said: ‘Harmonised action is essential to hold third country platforms accountable for unfair competition, tax evasion and non-compliance with EU standards on product safety, waste, sustainability and consumer and workers’ rights. A truly level playing field is needed for fair competition for all market operators, including those from outside the EU’.

The EESC cited soaring volumes to illustrate the scale of the issue: between 2016 and 2022 the share of EU consumers buying from non-EU sellers rose by 36%; in 2024 the EU received 4.6 billion low-value parcels – about 12 million a day – with over 91% of items below EUR 150 coming from China. Every day, an estimated 400 000 Temu or Shein parcels arrive in Germany alone.

Random tests recently conducted by commerce or industry associations on the products of those platforms revealed that none of the tested products were fully compliant with EU law and many failed to meet safety, environmental and labour standards.

The EESC proposed 12 short-, medium- and long-term measures that will lead to fair competition and thus meet the requirements for a Social Market Economy:

• short term: mandate an EU-based responsible operator; abolish the EUR 150 customs duty exemption; step up use of the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) with real-time data-sharing; intensify copyright protection and prosecution for large-scale plagiarism; and pursue formal complaints regarding anti-competitive practices;
• medium term: roll out a 'deemed importer' model across the EU; move towards a real, mandatory IOSS for platforms; coordinate VAT/customs audits; invest in staff, training and AI-supported tools for customs and market surveillance;
• long term: accelerate e-commerce reforms in the EU Customs Code (well before 2028); build a unified digital customs/compliance monitoring system; harmonise platform liability across the EU. (ll)