The fine of 200 million euros imposed by the European Commission on Temu under the Digital Services Act (DSA) marks an important step in the evolution of European regulatory doctrine. At first glance, the decision concerns the distribution of illegal or dangerous products to European consumers. In reality, Brussels is aiming for the economic model that allows certain global platforms to put millions of products on the market at extremely low prices while limiting the costs associated with their control.
The investigation opened in October 2024 led the Commission to conclude that Temu had not properly identified, analyzed or assessed the systemic risks linked to the presence of non-compliant products on its platform. European authorities criticize the company in particular for having underestimated the probability for a European consumer of being exposed to illegal products. Testing operations carried out as part of the investigation notably revealed electric chargers not meeting basic safety requirements as well as children’s toys containing chemical substances beyond authorized thresholds or presenting a choking risk.
The problem for the Commission is that Temu was unable to demonstrate that it understood the risks generated by its own system. European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen sums up this approach explicitly: “Risk assessments are not administrative exercises designed to tick boxes. They constitute the backbone of the DSA. » According to her, the analysis carried out by Temu “underestimates concrete risks, lacks precision, is not based on solid evidence and is not sufficiently exhaustive”.
For years, European regulators have mainly sanctioned the consequences of the activities of digital platforms. DSA introduces a different logic. Very large platforms must now demonstrate their ability to anticipate the risks linked to their activity, measure them and implement mechanisms to reduce them. The obligation no longer relates only to the results observed but to control of the system itself.
This development leads directly to the heart of the Temu model. The platform has established itself in Europe thanks to a formidable effective combination: an almost infinite range of products, extremely aggressive prices, constant renewal of catalogs, a massive presence on social networks and algorithms capable of constantly highlighting the products most likely to generate a conversion.
The more the catalog expands, the more the number of sellers increases and the more the rate of renewal of references accelerates, the greater the costs associated with quality control become. In a traditional distribution model, a significant portion of the value created finances precisely these functions: supplier verification, product control, certification, audits, regulatory compliance and recall management. In the world of global marketplaces, these costs are mechanically diluted in considerable volumes.
This economic criticism appears as an underlying theme of this decision; the European authorities now believe that the frequency of certain breaches is no longer compatible with a reading based on isolated incidents. When dangerous products appear repeatedly in a system, the problem ceases to be one-off. It becomes structural.
This reading is also that of the French government. In a joint reaction to the European decision, Roland Lescure, Serge Papin and Anne Le Hénanff hail “a victory for French consumers and businesses”. They emphasize “the systemic risks that these practices pose to European consumers and to the competitiveness of French companies”.
The government emphasizes that the actions taken against Temu are part of a strategy intended to “restore fair conditions of competition for French traders, craftsmen and industrialists who invest, who comply with standards and who employ in our territory”.
This economic dimension is central. For several years, some European trade players have denounced a form of competitive asymmetry. European distributors incur costs linked to safety standards, environmental obligations, taxation, customs controls and compliance arrangements. International platforms operating under extremely fragmented cross-border models have long benefited from a different cost structure allowing them to offer prices that are difficult to replicate.
The Temu affair is thus part of a broader sequence. Shein is already the subject of European investigations. AliExpress is also in the sights of regulators. At the same time, Brussels is working to eliminate the exemption from customs duties for parcels worth less than 150 euros, while several member states support the implementation of new taxes targeting the massive flows of small parcels from Asia.
The European Union seeks to reintroduce into the final cost of products part of the regulatory, tax and logistical burdens which had been circumvented or greatly reduced by certain globalized digital models.
After increasing the cost of data exploitation with the GDPR and that of dominant positions with the Digital Markets Act, the European Union is now using the DSA to increase the cost of risk. The fine imposed on Temu constitutes less of an isolated sanction than a signal sent to all major global platforms. Access to the European market no longer depends only on the ability to attract consumers. It now depends on the ability to internalize the security, compliance and liability costs that Europe considers to be inseparable from the exercise of economic activity on its territory.
