Ius Omnibus welcomes the publication of the European Commission’s (EC) 2030 Consumer Agenda and Action Plan for Consumers in the Single Market, a strategic framework that gives renewed priority to consumer protection, fair competition, enforcement and sustainable consumption across the European Union (EU).
The communication sets out concrete EU-level actions to be implemented over the next five years, addressing the challenges consumers face today, from the cost-of-living crisis and the growth of e-commerce to digital risks and environmental pressures.
The EC emphasises that consumer protection is central to the functioning of the single market, vital for competitiveness and essential for social fairness and democratic trust. With household consumption accounting for more than half of the EU’s Gross Domestic Product, empowering consumers is recognised as a driver of innovation, investment and sustainable prosperity.
The Agenda sets out priority actions in four major areas:
1. Completing the Single Market for Consumers
The EC seeks to remove persistent cross-border barriers in access to goods, services, financial products, mobility and travel. Measures include evaluating the Geo-Blocking Regulation, tackling unjustified territorial supply constraints, expanding cross-border financial services, improving multimodal digital mobility services, expanding roaming to EU candidate countries and strengthening the monitoring of consumers’ trends, especially the cost of living by the end of 2026.
2. Digital Fairness and Online Consumer Protection
Recognising the exponential growth of digital risks, the Commission will propose a Digital Fairness Act to address dark patterns, online manipulation, addictive design, influencers’ problematic practices, and unfair personalisation against consumers’ vulnerabilities. It will also strengthen protections for minors, tackle online fraud, and ensure safe and trustworthy uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) under the new AI Act.
3. Sustainable Consumption
Consumers face barriers to choosing durable, repairable and environmentally responsible products. The Agenda reinforces measures such as the Ecodesign Regulation, the Right to Repair, and the Green Transition Directive, while exploring “green-by-design” rules for e-commerce and promoting the circular economy, sustainable mobility, energy affordability, and access to essential goods such as food and housing.
4. Effective Enforcement and Redress
The Commission acknowledges that enforcement gaps, particularly in digital markets and e-commerce imports, continue to harm consumers and disadvantage compliant businesses. It will propose a revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, strengthen market surveillance, enhance product safety checks and expand the use of AI tools in investigations. It further commits to supporting the implementation of the Representative Actions Directive (RAD) and improving access to redress mechanisms across the EU.
For Ius Omnibus, the emphasis on robust public and private enforcement, improved cross-border cooperation, and strengthened redress systems constitutes a major development. The Commission’s commitment to supporting qualified entities, national authorities and the judiciary under the RAD is particularly significant for the effectiveness of mass harm litigation and consumer compensation efforts across the EU.
This ambitious Agenda responds comprehensively to the modern challenges affecting European consumers and it confirms that consumer protection is inseparable from competitiveness, social fairness and the Union’s democratic resilience.
Ius Omnibus looks forward to contributing actively to the implementation of this Agenda, ensuring that these commitments translate into real, enforceable protections for consumers in Portugal and across the EU.