Protecting consumers from misleading discounts and unfair practices such as hidden fees during Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Question for written answer E-001560/2026
to the Commission
Rule 144
Dimitris Tsiodras (PPE)

A recent sweep of 314 online sales platforms in 23 EU Member States found that 30 % displayed misleading discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Practices that may influence consumers' purchasing decisions were also found, such as attempts to add items to consumers' online baskets (36 % of cases) without their consent (4 in 10 cases), failure to explain the reference price so that their prices could be compared at the time of purchase and hiding additional fees such as service or delivery fees until the end of the process (10 % of cases).

Can the Commission answer the following:

• 1.What measures does it intend to take to protect consumers from misleading or false discounts and practices such as hidden fees?
• 2.In view also of the revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, what options is it considering to ensure more effective cross-border enforcement of EU consumer law, and is it considering the uniform application of sanctions across the EU rather than on a country-by-country basis, particularly in cases of infringements affecting several Member States?
• 3.How will it help strengthen the exchange of information between authorities and coordination between EU and national actions?

Submitted: 16.4.2026