Memorandum for the Irish Presidency, 2026

In this Memorandum, BEUC, The European Consumer Organisation, outlines concrete proposals for how the Council of Ministers, together with the European Parliament, should legislate to achieve a high level of consumer protection and empowerment. We count on the Irish EU Presidency to help shape the strategic agenda of the European Union in a way that serves both society and the economy.

Numerous legislative and non-legislative files of relevance to consumers will be on the Irish EU Presidency’s agenda. We expect the Irish EU Presidency to help to advance or finalise them in a way that benefits consumers. We would like to draw your particular attention to the following initiatives:

Simplification proposals:

• Digital Omnibus: The Commission’s proposal for simplification introduces important changes to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ePrivacy directive, rolling back key consumer protections partially to the benefit of large, non-European tech companies. The EU should refocus the discussion on better implementation, easier compliance and enforcement of current rules.
• Food and Feed Omnibus: The Commission aims at increasing the competitiveness of EU farmers and the food and feed industry, as well as reducing administrative burden on Member States. It will be important to ensure that simplification does not result in de-regulation and that the precautionary principle is safeguarded: consumers need high food safety standards.

Upcoming EU proposals:

• Revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation: It concerns the rules applying to the public enforcement of consumer protection law. It should ensure that consumers are well protected in case of infringements and that EU and non-EU traders play by the same rules.
• Digital Fairness Act: The upcoming revision of EU consumer law must ensure that consumers are better protected in online environments by closing legal gaps, ensuring more legal certainty for both consumers and businesses and reducing market fragmentation.
• European Product Act: The upcoming EU proposal must close the existing gaps by ensuring that there is always someone in the EU that can be effectively responsible for unsafe products being sold to consumers; by strengthening the resources and cooperation between the national market surveillance authorities and creating a centralised enforcement model for EU level infringements.

Ongoing discussions:

• Digital Networks Act
• EU’s response to US tariffs and regulatory pressure
• Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation
• Digital euro and access and acceptance of cash
• Savings and Investments Union
• Common Market Organisation
• CO2 standards for cars and the automotive package
• Medical devices regulations