How the ESPR Affects Online Marketplaces

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Introduction: Online Marketplaces in the Regulatory Spotlight

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU Regulation 2024/1781) brings online marketplaces firmly within the scope of EU product compliance enforcement. For years, platforms like Amazon, eBay, AliExpress, and countless smaller e-commerce marketplaces have operated in a regulatory grey area, benefiting from the argument that they are mere intermediaries rather than economic operators responsible for the products sold through their platforms.

The ESPR, working in conjunction with the EU's General Product Safety Regulation and the Digital Services Act, closes many of these gaps. Online marketplaces now face explicit obligations to cooperate with market surveillance authorities, ensure product listings include required compliance information, and take action to remove non-compliant products. This article examines what these obligations mean in practice. For background on the regulation itself, see our complete guide to the ESPR.

Defining Online Marketplaces Under the ESPR

The ESPR defines online marketplaces broadly to capture the full range of platforms that facilitate the sale of physical products to EU consumers. This includes traditional e-commerce marketplaces where third-party sellers list products, platforms that combine first-party and third-party sales, social commerce platforms where products are sold through social media integrations, and dropshipping platforms where the marketplace facilitates sales without handling inventory.

The regulation targets platforms that allow third-party sellers to offer products to consumers in the EU, regardless of where the platform or the seller is based. This extraterritorial reach means that a marketplace operated from outside the EU is still subject to ESPR obligations if it enables sales to EU consumers. The breadth of this definition reflects the EU's recognition that online marketplaces have become a primary channel through which non-compliant products enter the single market, and that effective product regulation requires platform-level accountability.

Key Obligations for Online Marketplaces

The ESPR imposes several specific obligations on online marketplaces that go significantly beyond previous requirements. These obligations are designed to ensure that non-compliant products do not reach EU consumers through online channels.

Core obligations include:

• Ensuring that product listings display the required compliance information, including energy labels, sustainability ratings, and links to Digital Product Passports where applicable
• Cooperating with market surveillance authorities by providing seller information, removing non-compliant listings, and preventing re-listing of withdrawn products
• Establishing internal processes to verify that sellers have fulfilled their obligations regarding product documentation and DPPs
• Designating a single point of contact for market surveillance authorities in each EU member state where the platform operates
• Taking proactive measures to identify and address systemic compliance issues on the platform

These requirements mean marketplaces must invest significantly in compliance infrastructure, seller verification, and regulatory cooperation processes. For smaller marketplace operators, the investment required may be substantial, but the alternative, facing enforcement actions, fines, or being blocked from operating in the EU, is far more costly.

Digital Product Passport Display Requirements

One of the most impactful requirements for online marketplaces relates to the display and accessibility of Digital Product Passports. When a product is required to have a DPP under a delegated act, the marketplace must ensure that the DPP is accessible to consumers from the product listing page.

In practice, this means product listings must include or link to the DPP data carrier (typically a QR code or URI), key environmental and sustainability information from the DPP must be displayed prominently, and the marketplace's systems must be capable of ingesting, validating, and displaying DPP data from sellers.

This creates a significant technical challenge for marketplaces, which must build systems capable of handling DPP data across potentially millions of product listings from thousands of sellers. Marketplaces will need to develop APIs and data ingestion workflows that can accept DPP data in standardised formats, validate it against the requirements of the relevant delegated acts, and present it consistently to consumers. Understanding the DPP framework is essential, our complete guide to Digital Product Passports explains the technical requirements.

Seller Verification and Due Diligence

The ESPR requires online marketplaces to take reasonable steps to verify that sellers on their platforms are meeting their obligations as economic operators. This does not make the marketplace liable for every non-compliant product, but it does require a good-faith effort to prevent systematic non-compliance.

Effective seller verification processes might include requiring sellers to confirm and document their status as manufacturer, importer, or distributor, spot-checking product listings for the presence of required compliance information, implementing automated systems that flag listings missing mandatory data such as DPP links, and responding promptly to notifications from market surveillance authorities about specific sellers or products.

Marketplaces that fail to implement adequate verification processes risk being held responsible for facilitating the sale of non-compliant products, with associated penalties and reputational consequences. The standard of due diligence expected is evolving, and marketplaces should anticipate that regulators will hold them to an increasingly high bar as awareness of ESPR requirements grows and enforcement tools mature.

Cross-Border Enforcement Challenges

Online marketplaces operate across borders by nature, which creates complex enforcement challenges under the ESPR. Products sold by a seller based in China, listed on a marketplace operated from the United States, and delivered to a consumer in Germany involve multiple jurisdictions and regulatory frameworks.

The ESPR addresses this through several mechanisms including requiring marketplaces to appoint authorised representatives or contact points within the EU, empowering market surveillance authorities to order the removal of product listings regardless of where the marketplace is based, enabling cooperation between market surveillance authorities across member states, and providing for the blocking of marketplace access in extreme cases of persistent non-compliance.

These mechanisms represent a significant strengthening of the EU's ability to enforce product compliance in the digital marketplace environment, where traditional border controls and physical inspections have proven insufficient. For detailed information on enforcement mechanisms, see our article on ESPR penalties and enforcement.

Impact on Small and Medium Marketplace Sellers

The marketplace obligations under the ESPR have knock-on effects for the sellers who use these platforms. As marketplaces implement compliance verification systems, sellers will face increased requirements for providing product documentation, DPP data, and evidence of conformity assessment.

Small and medium-sized sellers may find these requirements particularly burdensome, especially those who import products from non-EU suppliers and rely heavily on marketplace channels for their sales. However, marketplaces are also expected to provide guidance and tools to help sellers meet their obligations, creating an ecosystem-wide push towards compliance.

Sellers should begin preparing now by ensuring their product data meets emerging ESPR standards and by working with their suppliers to secure the necessary environmental and sustainability information. Those who proactively build DPP-ready product listings will be better positioned when marketplaces begin enforcing compliance requirements on their seller base. The ESPR timeline and deadlines guide can help sellers plan their preparation.

Preparing for the New Regulatory Landscape

Online marketplaces that begin preparing now will be best positioned to meet ESPR requirements smoothly. Key preparation steps include assessing current product listing requirements against anticipated ESPR obligations, developing technical infrastructure for DPP data ingestion and display, establishing seller compliance verification workflows, building relationships with market surveillance authorities in key EU markets, and monitoring the development of delegated acts to understand product-specific requirements.

The shift towards greater marketplace accountability is part of a broader EU strategy to ensure that the benefits of the single market are not undermined by non-compliant products entering through online channels. Marketplaces that embrace this shift proactively will build trust with consumers and regulators alike, whilst those that resist may find themselves facing enforcement actions and competitive disadvantages.

The European Commission's ESPR page provides the latest updates on regulatory development and marketplace obligations.