UBA President Dirk Messner said: “Cheap platforms like Temu are not concerned with sustainable consumption. They use unfair means to constantly create new incentives to buy. We are committed to ensuring that consumers are not put under unfair pressure when making their purchasing decisions.”
In July 2024, the EU authority network CPC (Consumer Protection Cooperation) launched a coordinated action against Temu. This was preceded by a warning from the consumer protection authority in Ireland, where the Chinese company has its European headquarters. Among other things, the CPC authorities accuse Temu of making it unnecessarily difficult for its customers to exercise their right of withdrawal and of using manipulative website designs. The action is also directed against allegedly falsified consumer reviews (so-called fake reviews), aggressive marketing with gambling elements and misleading information on minimum order values and price reductions.
Temu is now being asked to voluntarily submit commitments to cease violations of European consumer law in consultation with the coordinating authorities from Germany, Ireland and Belgium. Consumers in all EU member states would benefit from these commitments. If the sales platform does not cooperate, the CPC network can also enforce consumer protection laws against the company’s will and consistently punish violations, for example by imposing fines.
Further information
Misleading and aggressive commercial practices fall within the scope of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive 2005/29/EC. In particular, commercial practices are misleading if they contain false information that may deceive consumers.
Important rights that consumers can invoke within the EU are regulated in Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights These include, for example, the right of withdrawal for online contracts or the right to receive all important information about the goods and their seller before concluding the contract.
The UBA is responsible for the cross-border enforcement of the collective interests of consumers. However, the UBA has no powers to enforce individual consumer claims. Rather, its aim is to uncover and remedy abuses and violations by companies operating throughout Europe. All consumers benefit from this as part of the wider community.
