Europe has built a reputation for strong consumer protection. For years the law has been there to guard people when they sign contracts, buy goods, or take on services. But those rules were drafted for the world of shops, paper receipts, and face-to-face sales. The way we now live online has outpaced them. Platforms anticipate our habits, algorithms guide our choices, and techniques are designed to push us towards decisions we may not otherwise make.
The European Commission has decided the gap is now too wide to ignore. In 2024 it carried out a full review of consumer law, including the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive. The conclusion was blunt: the framework does not cope with manipulative interface design, deceptive subscription models, influencer marketing, or the new ways in which people are steered and persuaded online.
The response is the Digital Fairness Act. It will not stand alone but sit alongside the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act as the third element of Europe’s digital settlement. The DSA deals with platform accountability, the DMA with gatekeepers, and the DFA will speak directly to the position of the individual consumer.
The mandate is already set. President von der Leyen asked Commissioner Michael McGrath in September 2024 to lead the reform. The proposal is expected in the third quarter of 2026, with legislation unlikely to apply before 2027 or 2028. The approach will not be to replace the existing directives but to modernise them. Measures under discussion include clear prohibitions on manipulative design, stronger transparency obligations for targeted advertising, closer oversight of influencer marketing, and sanctions that carry real weight.
Important as these measures are, they only address today’s harms. The greater challenge is still to come. Digital markets are already moving towards agentic AI: systems that will not only suggest but act on behalf of people. These agents will agree to terms, sign up to services, and spend money without direct human action. That raises questions of consent, contract formation, and liability that current law cannot answer. The DFA is a chance to anticipate these issues before they become entrenched.
The timing is tight. By the time the Act is debated and enacted, autonomous agents may already be embedded in consumer markets. If the law does not speak to that reality, Europe will once again find itself regulating after the fact.
Author: Dr Ian Gauci