French officials have been pressuring the European Commission to sanction the Chinese e-commerce platform Shein.
This comes as France suspended Shein over the sale of illicit products, such as childlike sex dolls and weapons, on the firm’s French website.
In an interview today on French TV, the French foreign affairs minister Jean Noel Barrot also urged the EC to “crack down” and sanction the online platform, which he said is “obviously in breach of European rules”.
French economy minister Roland Lescure and minister delegate for AI and digital affairs Anne Le Henaff wrote to Henna Virkkunen, Commissioner for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, asking that Brussels take the concerns seriously.
“France alerts the European Commission and all member states to these serious breaches within its borders and expects that there are similar risks associated with this platform’s activities in other European Union countries,” they wrote.
Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EC can sanction very large online platforms with fines of up to 6 per cent of their global turnover if they do not respect the rules.
“The repeated marketing of illegal content indicates that the platform has failed to fulfil its obligations under the Digital Services Regulation [DSR)], particularly with regard to the protection of minors, the fight against illegal content and the traceability of its sellers,” Henaff and Virkkunen wrote.
In the event of serious and repeated violations, Shein could be banned from operating in the European market.
The French ministers said they expected the EC to act rapidly and to use its power under the DSA.
“France calls on the European Commission to fully exercise these powers, including by issuing provisional measures against the platform, and to conduct investigations without delay to shed light on the malfunctions that led to the sale of illegal items on this platform,” they said.
Anger has been mounting in Paris over numerous major e-commerce platforms.
France’s ex-minister for digital affairs, Clara Chapaz, insisted today: “The platforms that do not comply with our rules have no place here.
“We’re not going to let them walk all over us,” she added.
