In the viewfinder of the European authorities for many months, suited to justice by consumer associations and criticized for its environmental impact, the Chinese commercial site TEMU has to face a new blow. Brussels accuses him of not respecting European digital law.
“According to our preliminary assessment, TEMU is far from assessing the risks for its users according to the standards required by the Digital Services Regulations (DSA),” clarified the European Commissioner in charge of digital, Henna Virkkunen.
A survey carried out by the European Union since October 2024 shows that there is “a high risk for consumers” to find “illegal products on the platform”.
The commission notably points to “baby toys” and “small electronic devices”. The survey ‚is to continue, the EU wishing to study other alleged offenses such as the” addictive design “of the application, or the lack of transparency in the purchasing recommendations.
A fine of 6 % of the annual turnover?
The Chinese platform, which is exposed to a fine of up to 6 % of its annual turnover, still has the possibility of responding to the accusations issued by the European Commission.
TEMU only reached 2023 in the EU and experienced a dazzling progression, with an average of 93.7 million users in the 27 member countries. For this, she relied on a broken price strategy and a plethora sales catalog including clothes, toys, decorations, tools or high-tech.
The EU therefore continues its fight against brands of fast fashion and the sale of potentially dangerous product online. This investigation against TEMU is not the only current, other companies are targeted for the same reasons by the European Commission. This is particularly the case with the Chinese Aliexpress site or social networks Facebook, Instagram, X and Tiktok.
Concrete measures are also debated. A European bill proposal aims, for example, to impose a tax of two euros on small parcels from abroad, most often from China.