The European Commission opened an investigation this Thursday, October 31, against the Chinese fast-fashion site, in order to ensure that the items sold comply with European standards and to examine the risks of addiction to the online service.
Are the hundreds of thousands of products sold by Temu in Europe illegal? This is what the European Commission will try to verify, by opening this Thursday, October 31, an investigation against the online commerce site of Chinese origin Temu, suspected of not acting sufficiently to stem the sale of illegal items, or even dangerous. “We want to ensure that the products sold (on the Temu platform) comply with EU standards and do not put consumers at risk,” explained Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in a press release.
No legal deadline is set for concluding the investigation. If the fast-fashion giant is found guilty of violations, it could be fined up to 6% of its annual turnover (nearly 12 billion euros), under the new regulation European Commission on Digital Services (DSA). Temu, which is experiencing meteoric growth in Europe thanks to a strategy of low prices, is the international version of the Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Pinduoduo, born in 2015. It offers a plethora of products: clothing, toys, decoration, tools, high-tech… Participating in fact, alongside its competitor Shein, in unbridled overconsumption with significant environmental impacts.
Addiction
The group is also committed to working closely with the services of the European Commission. “Temu takes its obligations under the Digital Services Regulation very seriously and continually invests to protect the interests of consumers. We will fully cooperate with regulators,” said a spokesperson. The Brussels investigation comes after several warnings and written questions addressed to the platform.
It will focus in particular on “the systems put in place to limit the sale of non-compliant products in the European Union” and in particular the means implemented “to prevent the reappearance of previously suspended unwanted traders” for this reason, explained the European Commission. The Brussels executive, which now plays the role of digital policeman in the European Union, will also examine “the risks linked to the addictive design of the service” online sales, including rewards programs in a fun form “likely to have negative consequences on the physical and mental well-being of users”.
Misleading interfaces
The Commission will also look into product recommendation systems to users, and the obligation for Temu to disclose the main parameters used by these systems. The European executive also suspects the Chinese site of not respecting the obligation to provide researchers with access to the platform's data. European consumer associations filed a complaint against Temu in May, accusing it in particular of using misleading interfaces to encourage users to spend more on the platform.
The company said on October 11 that it had already “took significant steps” since the spring, while emphasizing that it continued “to refine” its practices “under the Digital Services Regulation”. At the end of September, six European Union countries, including France and Germany, asked the Commission to tighten the screws against Temu. “Every day, hundreds of thousands of packages arrive at our home, especially from China, with goods that do not respect the rules of the European market,” denounced German State Secretary for the Economy Sven Giegold during a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels.
France
