Resolution on protection of EU consumers against the practices of certain e-commerce platforms: the case of child-like sex dolls, weapons and other illegal products and materials

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on protection of EU consumers against the practices of certain e-commerce platforms: the case of child-like sex dolls, weapons and other illegal products and materials.

Context

Since 31 October 2025, a major controversy has emerged in France, rapidly extending across Europe, concerning the sale of child-like sex dolls and other illegal products, including weapons, on the Chinese e-commerce platform SHEIN.

The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office, consequently opened, on 3 November 2025, an investigation into SHEIN and three additional non-EU online marketplaces, namely Temu, AliExpress and Wish.

Parliament condemned the recent events in France concerning the availability on SHEIN of childlike sexualised objects and other illicit or dangerous goods, such as weapons, which were accessible throughout the EU. It stressed that these practices constitute a severe breach of EU law and a direct threat to the safety of consumers and the protection of minors. SHEIN is not an isolated case, but reflects a systemic pattern of inadequate oversight and insufficient preventive mechanisms. Recent findings from consumer organisations indicating that a significant proportion of products offered by major non-EU e-commerce platforms fail to meet EU safety requirements, with a substantial share posing serious risks to consumers. Most unsafe and illegal products are shipped to the EU in large volumes of individual, and often small, parcels sold to EU consumers via online platforms from non-EU countries, in particular China.

Compliance challenges

While recognising that the EU has established a robust compliance framework, including the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the Market Surveillance Regulation (MSR), the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), consumer protection rules and various product and environmental laws, which also applies to products sold online, Parliament recognised that greater efforts are still needed for the full and coordinated enforcement of the compliance framework. It considered that the rigorous, consistent and timely implementation of the EU’s regulatory acquis is indispensable to prevent unsafe, non-compliant and counterfeit products from entering the internal market and to uphold a high level of consumer protection. All relevant authorities within the Member States are called on to use all the enforcement tools at their disposal to respond in a timely and effective manner.

The resolution recalled that the DSA provides clear legal bases for intervention, including the authority to impose fines, and to order the removal of illegal products. In this regard, the Commission is urged to make full and timely use of these instruments to ensure that platforms comply with their obligations.

Given the sheer volume of e-commerce consignments entering the EU, urgent measures are needed improve controls such as the introduction of a harmonised EU-level WTO-compliant handling fee to cover the increased supervisory costs of custom authorities. The Commission is urged to increase financial and operational support for customs and market surveillance authorities, including through increased allocations under the upcoming multiannual financial framework, to ensure sufficient resources and adequate staffing.

Investigations into online platforms and further actions

Parliament deplored the slow progress of the investigations initiated by the Commission and the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network into non-EU online platforms for alleged violations of EU product safety and consumer laws and into very large platforms, in particular under the DSA. It stressed the urgency in bringing these investigations to a conclusion and addressing the structural reasons for this damaging slowness. The resolution underlined that, in practice, suspending platforms’ operations, as currently sought in France, remains largely unattainable, even in cases of manifest and repeated non-compliance. Action is necessary at EU level to ensure the consistent enforcement of legislation, as well as to prevent any internal market distortion.

Parliament called for stronger, faster and more operational enforcement instruments to ensure that EU rules can be applied effectively in the digital environment. The swifter and easier activation of interim measures under the DSA and of other measures under the GPSR and the MSR are needed, including the temporary suspension of the operation of online marketplaces in cases of repeated, serious or systemic breaches of EU law, such as the case concerning SHEIN in France, in order to ensure that non-compliant platforms do not evade consequences.

In addition, the resolution underlined the need to apply more effective sanctions in a timely manner, making full use of all instruments provided for under EU legislation. The Commission and the national competent authorities are called on to strongly enforce the DSA with regard to the responsibility of online marketplaces, in particular their obligations in terms of recommender systems, interface design, the right to information, compliance by design rules to increase the overall traceability, and their ‘know your business customer’ obligation.

The need for regulatory reforms

Parliament urged the Commission to take effective measures without delay against unsafe and illegal products on online platforms, including legislative measures where legal loopholes have been clearly identified, to ensure legal certainty and a level playing field for European companies, placing a particular emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises. It stresses the need to implement the current compliance framework and evaluate these measures when considering new legislation, including new obligations for online marketplaces.

Parliament believed that consumer redress must be ensured in all cases. Therefore, where the manufacturer is established outside the EU and no importer, authorised representative, or fulfilment service provider can be identified, online marketplaces should provide adequate and proportionate remedies to consumers where they fail to comply with the DSA.

The Commission is urged to proceed without delay with a comprehensive revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation, as this is a prerequisite for achieving robust cross-border enforcement of EU consumer rules and curbing the circulation of unsafe goods. The revision must introduce concrete provisions enhancing enforcement capacities in respect of non-EU traders and platforms.

Lastly, Parliament underlined that, in view of the pressing need to reinforce customs controls, the timeline for implementing core obligations under the revision of the Union Customs Code should be brought forward, notably the creation of the EU Customs Data Hub. It also welcomed the political agreement reached in the Council to abolish the EUR 150 customs duty relief threshold, as this constitutes a crucial measure to curb systematic abuse in low-value consignments.