Zalando must follow stricter digital rules under EU court decision

The EU General Court — acting as the first instance of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) — confirmed on Wednesday that online retail platform Zalando must comply with the stricter requirements of the European Digital Services Act (DSA), which includes additional obligations aimed at protecting consumers and preventing the spread of illegal content.

In its ruling, the court dismissed Zalando’s appeal against the European Commission’s decision to classify the company among the largest platforms subject to the regulation.

The court upheld the Commission’s view that the average monthly number of active Zalando recipients in the EU exceeded the threshold of 45 million (equivalent to 10% of the EU population), estimating the figure to be more than 83 million.

According to the General Court, determining whether Zalando qualified as a large platform required calculating its number of active recipients. This included, as the Commission found, individuals exposed to content from third-party sellers through Zalando’s “Partner Program.”

As a result, the court agreed with the Commission’s estimate that Zalando’s platform had more than 83 million average monthly recipients, rather than the approximately 30 million cited by Zalando based on gross sales generated through the “Partner Program.”

The court also rejected Zalando’s claims that the DSA violates the principles of legal certainty, equal treatment, and proportionality.

The judgment emphasized that when a platform’s average monthly number of active recipients equals or exceeds 45 million, it may be used to facilitate the marketing of dangerous or illegal products to a significant portion of the EU population.