Evaluation of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products

Key points

The EESC recommends:

• to promote the adoption of a consolidated European Product Act;
• to ensure coherence between the Market Surveillance Regulation (MSR), the General Product Safety Regulation, sector specific legislation and the Union Customs Code;
• to strengthen structured cooperation between customs and market surveillance authorities;
• that future MSR revisions address the specific characteristics of AI and other digital technologies;
• to ensure adequate, predictable and performance-based human and financial resources for market surveillance and customs authorities, combined with measurable implementation indicators;
• to provide national authorities with effective, proportionate and dissuasive enforcement tools;
• to establish a reinforced European enforcement capacity capable of addressing systemic cross border risks and large scale digital trade flows; 
• to adopt a clear risk-based enforcement framework;
• to align the MSR enforcement framework with the logic established under the Digital Services Act by introducing proportionate additional responsibilities for actors whose scale generates systemic compliance risks;
• to develop a structured compliance partnership framework enabling authorities to work proactively with economic actors;
• to make the MSR more proportionate and accessible for SMEs and microenterprises;
• to establish a European observatory on non-compliant products;
• to clarify the responsibility chain and make it fit to operate by introducing minimum quality criteria for authorised representatives;
• to improve interoperability between the Information and Communication System for Market Surveillance (ICSMS), Safety Gate, customs databases and other relevant systems;
• to ensure regular and accessible publication and dissemination of enforcement outcomes;
• to strengthen structured involvement of civil society and social partners (formal consultation mechanisms, permanent dialogue platforms, early engagement in legislative developments and improved access to information and digital interfaces for interaction with authorities);
• to provide capacity-building support and targeted training for both authorities and civil society actors;
• to introduce simple and effective tools to report fraudulent advertising.

For more information please contact the INT Section Secretariat.