Retail
Retail is the largest industrial ecosystem, accounting for 11.5% of EU value added and the largest private employer in the EU economy with nearly 30 million employees. The ecosystem comprises 5.5 million companies, with 99% being SMEs. With a gross value added of over €1.4 trillion, retail generates the highest value among all EU industrial ecosystems. Food retail will be the fastest-growing segment, with e-commerce continuing to expand strongly.
Platform regulation is the sector’s most consequential policy development. The Digital Markets Act designates major platforms – Amazon Marketplace, Apple App Store, Google Shopping, Meta’s platforms – as ‘gatekeepers,’ with obligations around interoperability, data access, and fair trading practices. Enforcement is intensifying: the Commission opened formal proceedings against multiple gatekeepers recently with ongoing cases in 2026. For traditional retailers, the DMA creates potential to reclaim competitiveness against platform giants. For platform operators, it represents significant compliance and business model risk.
The Digital Services Act creates obligations for online marketplaces around product safety, trader verification, and algorithmic transparency. Product Liability Directive reform, effective December 2026, extends liability to online platforms and fulfilment service providers – significantly affecting e-commerce operators. Consumer protection regulation continues to evolve around greenwashing, dark patterns, and the right to repair.
US tariffs are creating uncertainty for import-dependent retail categories. The EU-Mercosur deal is relevant for food retail, with beef and other agricultural products now entering at reduced tariffs from 1 May 2026. The low-value parcel trade – dominated by Chinese platforms Temu and Shein – is one of the most actively lobbied Brussels retail battlegrounds of 2026. The Commission is reviewing the €150 customs threshold that has allowed billions of low-value Chinese packages to enter the EU effectively duty-free, with major European retailers lobbying intensively for reform. Customs authorities are simultaneously overwhelmed by parcel volumes and under pressure to enforce product safety and chemical standards on direct-to-consumer imports. Greenwashing enforcement under the Green Claims Directive, the right to repair legislation, and supply chain resilience are all generating active advocacy work across the sector.