Digital Poland Association appeals EC to halt work on DFA
The Digital Poland Association has appealed to the European Commission to halt work on the Digital Fairness Act (DFA) draft, according to a request sent to the EC. The organisation warns that the new regulations will not only fail to bring the expected benefits to consumers, but also cover areas that are already regulated.
"The Digital Fairness Act in its current form contradicts the European Commission's announced agenda of simplification and reduction of bureaucracy," the Association wrote in its statement.
"Instead of improving the enforcement of existing regulations, it will introduce another layer of regulations overlapping with the existing DSA, DMA, GDPR and AI Act," it added.
The association points out that the European Union already has the world's most comprehensive consumer protection system, including the UCPD, CRD and UCTD directives, the GDPR regulation, as well as new acts such as the Digital Services Act, Data Act and AI Act.
According to Cyfrowa Polska, the proposed Digital Fairness Act duplicates these regulations and threatens to further fragment the internal market, hindering cross-border business activity and increasing the risk of inconsistent interpretation of the law in different Member States.
In Cyfrowa Polska's view, the adoption of new regulations under the DFA would further complicate the legal system, increasing administrative burdens and compliance costs, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises.
In particular, the association points out that many of the issues that the European Commission wants to cover with the new regulations, such as so-called ‘dark patterns’ (design patterns used to mislead users making decisions), personalised advertising, designing content in a way that threatens addiction, or influencer practices – are already regulated under existing legislation, and the problem is not a lack of regulation, but its fragmented and inconsistent enforcement.
"Europe needs a simple, predictable and consistent legal framework that supports innovation rather than stifling it," Michal Kanownik, chairman of the Association, commented.
"If we really want to increase the competitiveness and resilience of our market, we need to focus on simplifying and effectively applying the law, rather than multiplying new regulations," he added.
The Digital Fairness Act (DFA) is a European Union legislative proposal aimed at modernising consumer protection rules in the digital economy. Its goal is to create a safer and fairer online environment by combating manipulative and unethical commercial practices that exploit consumers' vulnerabilities.
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