Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Introduction

The revision of the New Legislative Framework (NLF) comes at a pivotal moment for the European Union. Adopted in 2008, the existing framework no longer reflects the profound socio-economic, technological, and environmental transformations that have since taken place. The current context – marked by the urgency of the ecological transition, the accelerating deployment of digital technologies, and the imperative to secure resilient and sustainable value chains – necessitates a comprehensive and forward-looking revision of the NLF.

This own-initiative report urges the Commission to propose a revision that ensures greater coherence across regulatory frameworks and effectively responds to evolving consumer, environmental and market challenges. The objective must be a modernised, harmonised, and enforceable regulatory framework that enhances product compliance, strengthens the resilience of the internal market, and aligns with long-term sustainability, competitiveness, and strategic autonomy goals of the Union.

Key Challenges

One of the main shortcomings identified in the Commission’s 2022 evaluation of the current NLF is its insufficient alignment with today’s environmental and digital objectives. The revised framework must embed key principles such as circularity, durability, reparability, and transparency, thereby ensuring that the internal market actively drives the Union’s climate neutrality and resource efficiency goals.

The revision should fully integrate relevant Union initiatives and legislative instruments, notably the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), the Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition, the Right to Repair Directive, the Green Claims Directive, the Circular Economy Action Plan, and the revised Waste Framework Directive. It should also be coherent with recently adopted legislative acts such as the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), the Product Liability Directive (PLD), the Artificial Intelligence Act, and the Digital Services Act (DSA)...

However, alignment alone is insufficient. The emergence and proliferation of fast fashion and ultra-fast fashion raise serious concerns due to their severe environmental degradation, exploitative labour practices, and consumer deception. The revised NLF should promote sustainable business models and responsible consumption patterns as a core policy objective.

A critical aspect of this revision should be the establishment of harmonised definitions for economic actors, such as refurbishers, repairers, and sellers of pre-owned products. In the absence of such definitions, these actors risk being misclassified - often as manufacturers or importers - and thereby held accountable under inappropriate obligations, which may expose them to legal uncertainty and disproportionate sanctions. Such regulatory ambiguity ultimately stifles a sector that is inherently local, not subject to offshoring, generates significant employment within the Union, contributes to resource efficiency, and plays a pivotal role in advancing the circular economy.

Moreover, consumers frequently lack access to standardised, reliable, and comprehensive product information, including data on environmental footprint, composition, origin, and reparability. This impedes their ability to make informed, sustainability-conscious purchasing decisions, thereby undermining both consumer rights and the green transition.

Simultaneously, market surveillance authorities face barriers to timely and digital access to product compliance documentation, which limits their capacity to detect, investigate, and act upon non-compliant, unsafe, or counterfeit products circulating within the Union.

Finally, a growing and particularly pressing concern is the proliferation of non-compliant products sold via online marketplaces, often originating from outside the EU. These products pose a dual risk to consumers, who may unknowingly purchase unsafe goods and find themselves without legal recourse, as sometimes no responsible economic operator is identifiable or liable within the Union. This situation not only undermines consumer safety and trust, but also distorts competition, placing Union-based enterprises, particularly SMEs, at a disadvantage and jeopardising the Union’s broader environmental and product safety objectives.

Urgency for ambitious measures

The draft report proposes a set of targeted measures to address existing regulatory gaps. It calls for the integration of a horizontal Digital Product Passport (DPP) into the NLF as a mandatory requirement for all products placed on the Union market, including second-hand goods.

For consumers, the DPP would offer a centralised, trustworthy access point to harmonised information on product characteristics, including durability, reparability, composition, energy efficiency, and recyclability. This would enable informed purchasing decisions and promote sustainable consumption patterns, in line with the Union’s environmental and climate objectives.

For market surveillance and customs authorities, the DPP would facilitate real-time access to essential compliance data, significantly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of product checks. Full Interoperability with existing EU databases would allow authorities to automatically flag and trace non-compliant products across the internal market.

The report also expresses concern that the CE marking is often misunderstood by consumers, who may incorrectly interpret it as a certification of quality or safety. In order to prevent such misconceptions and to streamline the digital flow of product information, the Rapporteur proposes that the CE marking be removed once its informational function is fully integrated into the DPP.

In light of the increasing prevalence of unsustainable consumption patterns, the Rapporteur considers that national legislative initiatives - such as the French law targeting fast fashion -could serve as valuable reference models for coordinated Union-level action. The Commission is invited to assess the feasibility and proportionality of measures such as a ban on advertising for products, brands, or companies associated with fast fashion practices, including across digital platforms and influencer marketing channels.

Furthermore, the introduction and effective implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes for textiles should be prioritised, alongside complementary measures such as targeted financial incentives and repair vouchers. These instruments could contribute to enhancing the competitiveness of locally produced goods with a reduced environmental footprint, fostering greater transparency across the value chain, and ultimately supporting the resilience of regional economies, particularly SMEs and micro-enterprises.

Regarding refurbishers, repairers, and sellers of pre-owned products, the establishment of harmonised definitions is pivotal. However, it cannot constitute a standalone solution to ensure that these actors can operate effectively and are not subject to unintended regulatory burdens under the current legal framework. The definitions adopted should duly reflect the specific obligations that refurbishers and repairers are reasonably able to comply with, taking into account their distinct role and limited access to manufacturer-level documentation.

Moreover, there is a pressing need for a clear and harmonised definition of ‘substantial modification’ to ensure legal certainty and to distinguish such modifications from routine repair or maintenance operations. In this context, the Commission is invited to develop a non-exhaustive catalogue of common refurbishment and repair processes, in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

In parallel, the report stresses the importance of a harmonised Union approach to VAT reductions for reused, refurbished, repaired, and second-hand products - including those marketed by charitable organisations and social economy actors - as a means to incentivise sustainable consumption, extend product lifecycles, reduce environmental impacts, and support circular business models.

To address the persistent issue of unsafe products entering the Union via online marketplaces, the Rapporteur considers that the NLF should establish a horizontal and mandatory requirement for non-EU traders to designate a Responsible Person established within the Union. This entity should bear full legal and financial liability for ensuring product compliance, thereby guaranteeing that consumers are not left without effective remedies and securing a level playing field between Union-based and third-country economic operators.

The report further proposes that risk assessments carried out by market surveillance authorities be systematically used to identify high-risk product categories and to monitor the compliance track record of economic operators, in particular those established in third countries. It calls on the Commission to assess the feasibility of introducing a ranking mechanism, whereby compliance performance would be linked to proportionate additional obligations, such as targeted third-party conformity assessments. Moreover, it recommends the development of clear key performance indicators (KPIs) to systematically evaluate compliance and improve the effectiveness of enforcement actions across the internal market.

Finally, the revision of the New Legislative Framework should ensure that standardisation and conformity assessment systems are fit for purpose.

Harmonised standards remain a cornerstone of the single market, supporting the achievement of public interest objectives laid down in Union law. The Rapporteur stresses that the revision should enhance the transparency, accountability, and effectiveness of the standardisation process, including in relation to the allocation of Union funding to European Standardisation Organisations (ESOs).

The functioning and clarity of existing conformity assessment modules should be reviewed, given persistent legal uncertainty and inconsistent application across sectors. Such a review should uphold the principle that the level of risk associated with a product must determine the appropriate conformity assessment procedure.

The report also calls on the Commission to propose the mandatory accreditation of notified bodies to ensure their competence, independence, and impartiality across all Member States. This is essential to address diverging national practices, reinforce legal certainty, and restore trust in the overall conformity assessment framework.

Conclusion

The revision of the NLF is a necessary and timely step to modernise Union product legislation in light of ecological, technological, and market developments. It must ensure a coherent, enforceable, and future-proof regulatory architecture that strengthens product compliance, protects consumers, and fosters sustainable business models. Enhanced traceability through a horizontal DPP, better access to compliance data, and stronger enforcement tools are essential components. Support for circular actors, including refurbishers and repairers, and fair treatment of EU-based operators must be guaranteed.