The European Commission is preparing new legislation to address potentially misleading and manipulative commercial practices in digital markets. The proposed Digital Fairness Act could affect how businesses advertise products, work with influencers, display prices and manage online subscriptions, although its precise requirements have yet to be determined.
European businesses are facing another potential change to the rules governing digital marketing and online commercial activity as the European Commission prepares its Digital Fairness Act.
The initiative, expected to be presented before the end of 2026, aims to address gaps in existing consumer protection legislation, particularly concerning online advertising, subscription services, personalised marketing and the design of digital platforms.
According to the European Commission’s policy overview, the legislation is intended to strengthen consumer protection while improving legal certainty for businesses operating across the single market.
The Commission has identified several practices it considers problematic, including misleading influencer promotions, manipulative website design and pricing techniques that can obscure the real cost of purchases.
The initiative remains under preparation. Its eventual provisions will depend on the Commission’s legislative proposal and subsequent negotiations between the European Parliament and Council.
For companies selling products or services online, the immediate issue is understanding which practices are already regulated and which could face additional restrictions.
Influencer Marketing Faces Greater Scrutiny
Influencer marketing has become an established part of corporate communications, particularly in fashion, beauty, travel and consumer technology.
Businesses increasingly work with content creators to promote products through social media platforms, often using commercial relationships that are less immediately visible than traditional advertising.
Existing EU consumer protection rules already prohibit misleading commercial practices and require advertising to be identifiable as commercial communication.
However, the Commission believes enforcement gaps and inconsistencies across member states have complicated oversight of influencer marketing.
The Digital Fairness Act is expected to examine clearer requirements concerning the disclosure of paid partnerships and the responsibilities of brands that commission promotional content.
The European Economic and Social Committee has supported a more harmonised approach, including clarification of influencers’ obligations and additional protections for minors.
For marketing departments, the implications could extend beyond placing advertising labels on individual posts.
Companies may need to review how they select influencers, approve promotional claims, document commercial relationships and monitor the content produced on their behalf.
Responsibility could become more clearly defined between the advertiser, intermediary agency and individual content creator.
Any new requirements will depend on the final legislation.
Online Prices and Subscription Models
Another area under examination concerns how businesses communicate prices to customers.
The Commission has identified practices such as drip pricing, where additional charges become visible only during the final stages of purchasing, and potentially misleading introductory prices.
Other concerns include dynamically personalised prices, promotional discounts and commercial interfaces that encourage customers to make decisions without adequate information.
EU law already contains requirements governing price transparency and misleading advertising.
The Digital Fairness Act could clarify how these obligations apply to newer commercial techniques, including algorithmically personalised offers.
Subscription services are also attracting regulatory attention.
Businesses offering software, streaming services, online publications and other recurring products frequently rely on automatic renewals and introductory trials.
The Commission is examining practices that make subscriptions difficult to cancel or convert free trials into paid arrangements without sufficient clarity.
Potential measures could involve more transparent renewal conditions and simpler cancellation procedures.
However, no final EU-wide cancellation mechanism has been agreed under the proposed Act.
Website Design Becomes a Compliance Issue
The forthcoming legislation also addresses so-called dark patterns: interface designs that can pressure, deceive or manipulate users into particular decisions.
Examples include making the acceptance of an offer significantly easier than rejecting it, obscuring relevant conditions or repeatedly prompting consumers to complete unwanted transactions.
These practices may already breach existing consumer protection legislation, while the Digital Services Act imposes specific restrictions on certain online platform interfaces.
The Digital Fairness Act is intended to examine remaining gaps and clarify obligations across digital services.
This could have practical consequences for website developers, user-experience designers and marketing teams.
Commercial decisions about button placement, checkout processes, promotional messages and customer journeys may require closer legal assessment.
For businesses operating in several EU countries, a more harmonised framework could also reduce uncertainty arising from different national enforcement approaches.
The Impact on Corporate Communications
The initiative reflects a wider development in European regulation: marketing practices are increasingly assessed not only according to the accuracy of individual claims but also according to how digital systems influence consumer decisions.
This creates additional interaction between legal, marketing and technology departments.
Advertising claims, customer data, automated pricing, influencer contracts and website functionality may need to be considered as part of the same compliance process.
The Commission’s preparations have also prompted debate over the potential regulatory burden.
Business representatives have questioned whether further legislation is necessary when existing consumer protection rules already address many of the identified practices.
Consumer organisations, meanwhile, argue that current legislation does not adequately address the speed and complexity of digital commercial techniques.
The final proposal will need to reconcile these positions.
For companies, reviewing current practices can help establish where existing legal obligations already apply and where proposed changes may create additional requirements.
The Digital Fairness Act has not yet introduced new binding obligations.
Nevertheless, its development signals that online commercial design, marketing transparency and subscription practices will remain central issues in European consumer policy.
