Why is cross-border enforcement of consumer law so challenging?

The EnfTech project grew out of an international research project on how to improve Cross-border enforcement of consumer protection.

The project report took stock of the current obstacles to cross-border enforcement and assessed the solutions already in place to bolster it, concluding that greater use of technology in enforcement was an important step in future proofing consumer protection.

Here, we look at why the cross-border enforcement of consumer protection has proven to be so challenging.

Consumers in global, digital markets

Consumers everywhere are part of global, digital markets that transcend national borders. Goods and services flow freely across borders and boost choice, but if things go wrong in another jurisdiction, consumers and enforcers alike find it hard to act. 

As well as individual problems with cross-border sales, consumers are negatively impacted by systemic issues like unfair contract clauses, dark patterns, excessive data collection or misleading activities such as greenwashing. 

Normalisation of rights-infringing practice

The prevalence and normalisation of these types of rights-infringing practices risks undermining trust in digital transactions. It also damages competition, as businesses who choose not to respect the legislation in place have an advantage.    

“Cross-border enforcement collides with the realities of national enforcement systems organised along geographical boundaries, where it in fact needs to service a largely dematerialised world”

Cross-border enforcement of consumer law: Looking to the future, March 2022

The good news is that there’s been great progress in the development of substantive law that responds to the challenges and harms that consumers in global and online markets face. However, it’s a different story for procedural law. The research found very little development or adoption of procedural laws that could help enforce substantive consumer protection laws across borders.

The full report proposes solutions to assist in improving cross-border enforcement can be read here: Cross-border enforcement of consumer law: Looking to the future.