The 2025-2030 Consumer Agenda

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What is the 2030 Consumer Agenda?

The 2030 Consumer Agenda is the European Commission’s consumer roadmap for the coming years, in this case 2025-2030, which is the subject of our European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) upcoming opinion INT/1107. It is through this agenda that the Commission puts forward all the topics related to consumer issues on which it intends to take action.

What is the EESC’s role in this?

We must first bear in mind that this is a recurring topic. In 2021, the EESC already set out its views on the 2020-2025 Consumer Agenda, and has also adopted an opinion on the previous agenda.

Consumer issues are a major topic for the Committee, having produced more than 100 opinions on the topic since 1990.

It is important to note that on the subject of consumer issues, the Committee’s voice carries particular weight. To take just one example, the opinion it adopted in October 2013 on the sustainability of products was the first European document to denounce planned obsolescence and to kick-start major European action to increase product lifespans, in particular by promoting repairability.

Why is this topic so important?

If we want to really bring the EU closer to its citizens, we must bear in mind that there are 450 million consumers in Europe. If we don’t want Europe to appear distant and out of touch, we need to prove its ability to meet very specific, everyday expectations, such as those linked to the consumption practices of Europeans.

What’s in the agenda?

The 2030 Consumer Agenda has four main strands:

  • to better integrate consumer protection within the internal market;
  • to strengthen online consumer protection;
  • to support sustainable consumption;
  • to improve rights and forms of redress.

What is your overall assessment of the agenda?

First, we need to acknowledge that this is an excellent document covering almost all areas of consumption. Over the years, the European Commission’s role in consumer protection has clearly grown.

Nevertheless, I’d like to suggest some improvements.

In general, long before issues even get to consumer agendas, what we lack is a sufficiently comprehensive and forward-looking vision; a European policy on the role of the European consumer that is not merely a catalogue of objectives and action plans.

The agenda lacks a clear vision of whether consumers are expected to act primarily as informed market actors or whether public authorities are expected to actively correct power imbalances through regulation, enforcement, and collective redress.

We have noticed that this text contains far too many vague terms. We need to ‘relaunch’, ‘improve’, ‘support’ and ‘cooperate’, but when you look at the details, far too many points lack precision.

As an example, instead of saying: The Agenda aims to improve consumer protection in digital markets it should specify how consumer protection in digital markets will be improved, for instance through mandatory default protections, stricter platform liability, and minimum enforcement benchmarks for national authorities.

We feel that for the European Commission, the key element of the consumer protection package appears to be built on the assumption that better information enables consumers to protect themselves. A well-informed consumer is a protected consumer? We strongly disagree with this sentiment.

This overlooks the reality that many consumer harms arise from unequal bargaining power, complex choice architectures, and unavoidable dependencies—particularly in digital and essential markets.

In markets characterised by take-it-or-leave-it contracts, behavioural manipulation, or lack of genuine choice, additional information does not translate into meaningful consumer protection.

Do you have any additional, more specific observations?

I would put forward just two.

The first is that we’re seeing a sharp drop in ambition when it comes to sustainable consumption, particularly since the proposed directive on green claims was withdrawn. We would also like to point out that the moves towards simplification should not come at the expense of consumers or environmental protection.

The second is to alert the European Commission that there is an overreliance on digital tools in dealings with consumers. We strongly oppose replacing labels exclusively with QR codes that consumers would need to scan in order to obtain product information. Similarly, it is not acceptable for certain manufacturers and distributors to simply refer consumer requests or complaints to chatbots or other online platforms. It should always be possible to speak to a person. This is key for maintaining consumer trust.

A credible EU 2030 Consumer Agenda should move beyond informing consumers towards actively shaping markets that are fair by design, enforceable in practice, and resilient to technological and economic power imbalances.

What's next?

1. Implement and Enforce Existing Legislation (Short term: 2024–2026)

The Agenda is now in its delivery phase. Key next steps include:

The Agenda’s credibility now depends on whether enforcement becomes faster, more consistent, and more deterrent across the EU.

 

2. Shift from Information-Based Measures to Market Outcomes

A decisive next step—still insufficiently articulated—is to move beyond consumer information as the primary policy lever.

This implies:

  • sssessing whether disclosure-heavy approaches (labels, notices, consent boxes) actually reduce harm;
  • prioritising default protections, bans on harmful practices (e.g. dark patterns), and design-based regulation;
  • reducing the burden on consumers to “navigate” complexity.

This is where the Agenda must evolve if it is to address real-world consumer vulnerability, especially in digital and essential markets.

 

3. Strengthen Collective Redress and Access to Justice (Medium term)

Another next step is to make consumer rights enforceable in practice, not just in law.

This includes:

  • making the Representative Actions Directive work effectively in all Member States;
  • temoving procedural and financial barriers for consumer organisations;
  • ensuring remedies include compensation, not just injunctions.

Without accessible redress, the Agenda risks reinforcing a rights–remedies gap.

 

4. Integrate Consumer Policy into the Green and Digital Transitions

The Agenda explicitly links consumer policy to sustainability and digitalisation, but the next steps require concrete integration, such as:

  • tackling greenwashing through enforcement and clearer substantiation rules;
  • making “sustainable choices” affordable and available, not just encouraged;
  • addressing algorithmic pricing, AI-driven manipulation, and platform dependencies.

This means recognising that consumers cannot drive systemic change through choice alone.

 

5. Mid-Term Review and Strategic Reorientation (By 2026–2027)

A crucial next step will be a mid-term evaluation of the Agenda, which should:

  • measure outcomes (reduced harm, fairer markets), not awareness or information outputs;
  • identify where the “informed consumer” model has failed;
  • reassess whether stronger EU-level intervention is needed in certain markets.

This review is the moment to articulate the missing forward-looking vision we have identified: what kind of consumer protection model the EU wants by 2030.

Thierry LIBAERT (France)

Member, EESC Civil Society Organisations' Group

Director, endowment fund Equité Partagée, created by the NGO Max Havelaar/Fair Trade France

Vice-president, Scientific Council, Fondation pour la Nature et l’Homme

© EU/EESC