Safety

The products we use in our everyday lives should not harm us. Keeping EU product safety and chemicals legislation up to date is therefore paramount. BEUC’s safety team advocates laws and policies that will protect consumers from harm and which reflect the way products and markets are evolving.

We urge the EU to minimise consumers’ exposure to harmful chemicals, as tests by BEUC members frequently find such chemicals in products such as cosmetics, food packaging, and toys. ‘Safety’ considerations are no longer confined to real-world risks affecting people physically: connected products that lack basic security features are also an increasing source of worry.

In recent years, we have repeatedly alerted authorities that unsafe or otherwise non-compliant products are increasingly sold via online marketplaces. Our work also looks at how market surveillance is conducted in the European Single Market.

Finally, we call for improvements to the EU’s product liability law which exists to protect and compensate consumers if they suffer physical or financial harm from a defective product. Among others, we think that all kinds of damage should be covered, the burden of proof should be reversed, and that online marketplaces should also become liable. 

• Improve the safety and security of products sold on the EU market, both in brick-and-mortar shops and online. We look at horizontal (General Product Safety Regulation) and sector-specific (e.g., on toy safety) legislation in this regard.
• Contribute to effective market surveillance and enforcement of legislation.
• Minimise exposure for consumers and the environment to dangerous chemicals.
• Adequately and urgently address the potential risks posed by hormone disrupting chemicals (endocrine disruptors).