European Commission’s new single market strategy introduces changes in product law

The European Commission presented its new single market strategy on 21 May 2025. The aim is to make the single market simple, seamless and strong. It contains proposals to remove the ten most harmful barriers to the single market (“Terrible Ten”). The Commission itself describes the EU product law framework as the heart of the single market. The new single market strategy thus also sets out numerous changes to European product law. According to the Commission, the regulatory legislation for European product law published in the late 2000s, which became known as the New Legislative Framework (NLF), has proven to be a fundamental regulatory concept, but one which needs improvement.

Adapting the NLF in the context of digitalisation

The Commission considers outdated harmonised product rules to be one of the ten most harmful barriers to the single market. Initial steps are therefore to be taken to adapt product rules to the digital age. As part of the Omnibus IV package, also published on 21 May 2025, the Commission has presented two proposals to amend numerous sectoral product legislation provisions (COM(2025) 503 final and COM(2025) 504 final). This will affect numerous relevant product groups from machinery and electrical and electronic devices to lifts, radio equipment and batteries. The changes not only extend to product safety regulations, but are also linked to the new law on ecodesign and thus to sustainability issues.

Digital user manuals

Specifically, manufacturers in the regulatory areas affected will in future generally have the option of providing user manuals in a digital format. However, safety information for consumers must continue to be provided on paper. In addition, consumers are also to be allowed to request a paper version of the user manual after purchase. Of course, this digitalisation is still disappointingly slow in 2025 and hardly deserves the name. In particular, the personal use of connected devices across all generations is more established than the Commission is willing to admit. Following the comparatively weak provision in the new European Machinery Regulation, this would be another missed opportunity to finally take the digital reality into account for consumers as well.

Digital declaration of conformity

At least the EU declaration of conformity to be issued to the authorities will in future only have to be issued and made available digitally, for example via a machine-readable code.

Digital reporting to authorities

Economic operators’ reporting obligations are also to be fully digitalised. Economic operators will have to provide all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate conformity upon a reasoned request from a competent national authority or the European Commission. In future, this information must be provided electronically.

Digital product passport

As digital product passports are already laid down in some EU legislation such as the Battery Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542), economic operators will in future be required to store the information included in the EU declaration of conformity and the instructions for use in a digital product passport if they are already required by other legislation to maintain a digital product passport. Digital product passports are intended to become the main tool for disclosing and sharing product information in future. They will therefore be introduced step by step in each product category. That is also taking a surprisingly long time.

Strengthening market surveillance and customs

The Commission has also identified product non-compliance as a significant barrier to the single market. The large number of unsafe, counterfeit or non-compliant products from third countries puts a considerable burden on the customs and market surveillance mechanisms of Member States and makes it hard to fully enforce European product compliance requirements. To ensure a coordinated and effective EU-wide response to risky products, procedures are to be optimised and, as part of a customs reform, a new customs authority is to be established and an EU customs data hub created. However, too little attention is being paid to the core issue raised by industry and traders, namely the lack of compliance among products imported directly by consumers via online platforms.

European market surveillance authority

Market surveillance is also to be organised more intensively at EU level in future to enable efficient coordination and targeting of controls and to pool the capacity and expertise of national market surveillance authorities. The Commission believes that EU-wide market surveillance, including the creation of a European market surveillance authority, should be considered in strategically important regulatory areas. This is to apply in particular to imports of goods via distance selling, at least. Centralisation is welcome in this context. However, the Commission still lacks any experience in implementing product regulation, which is likely to cause problems for economic operators.

Reform of European standardisation

The Commission identifies the long delays in standardisation as a further barrier to the single market. The Standardisation Regulation (EU) 1025/2012 still sets the current framework for developing standards with a presumption of conformity. However, this standardisation framework is said to be ill-suited to market requirements. This applies in particular to topicality, the involvement of relevant stakeholder groups and access to standards. Companies thus have to deal with the absence or delayed availability of harmonised standards. However, this analysis lacks any self-criticism of the lack of resistance to the ECJ’s Malamud ruling and the slow approval procedures for harmonised drafts.

In this context, the single market strategy aims to revise the European Standardisation Regulation to make it fit for the future. The standardisation process is to be made faster and more flexible, a stakeholder-driven process with balanced participation (start-ups, SMEs, civil society and academia) is to be ensured, and access to standards is to be improved.

Where no harmonised standards exist or where they are inadequate, the Commission should be temporarily authorised to adopt implementing acts. These will establish common specifications for the fundamental health and safety or other necessary requirements. This will make it easier for manufacturers to comply with these requirements. As part of the Omnibus IV package, the Commission has put forward two proposals to amend the relevant sectoral product legislation (COM(2025) 503 final and COM(2025) 504 final). As always in the case of common specifications there is the key question of how the Commission intends to obtain the necessary technical information if standardisation cannot or will not provide it.