00:00because the European Commission has slapped a 200 million euro fine on the Chinese online shop
00:04Temu. Known for selling cheap clothes, gadgets and children's toys, Brussels says they failed
00:10to identify the high risks of illegal products being offered on the EU market. The German MEP
00:16Anna Cavazzini has been working on this on behalf of the European Parliament and joins us live for
00:21more. Good morning, so thank you so much for being with us. Just tell us what happens if
00:25Temu fails to comply after this fine. Could the EU go further? Yes, let me first say good morning and
00:33I'm happy and welcoming that the European Commission is finally following through on the basis of the
00:39Digital Services Act because we have a problem. We have a problem in the European Union with so many
00:43unsafe products, products that are not complying to our standards which are also of course not only
00:47harming the consumers but also creating a problem for companies that are complying so that the
00:52Commission follows through is very, very important. And to your question, it is of course important
00:57that the company complies. So I think the ultimate goal is that they comply. But of course, if they are
01:03not showing a path forward, then the Commission can go further. And what are the risks to European
01:09consumers? Many that they don't even realize are out there. Yeah, for example, the Commission justified
01:16their decision on tests, buying tests, for example, and showing that a lot of products like
01:24chargers, but especially also toys for children are not safe, are not complying with the standards,
01:30are also environmentally harmful if there are chemicals inside that are forbidden in the European
01:35Union. So I think if, you know, consumers trust our high standards that we are proud of in the European
01:41Union, they should also trust when buying it online. And do you expect now that Temu will play
01:46ball and change how they do business? I led the first European Parliament delegation to China
01:53recently. We also met with Temu when we were there. And I got the impression that they're in general
01:57willing to comply. They showed a lot of eagerness to comply. And I think also, of course, they understand
02:02it's also benefiting them in China if they have higher standards. There's also a growing consumer
02:07market in China, of course. But it's also not so easy to just change the business model because,
02:12of course, their business model is based on cheap products and they can't control all the
02:16individual traders online. It's very difficult to control them. So they have to really step up and
02:22they cannot only have nice words, but they have to show actions. And meanwhile, of course, we have
02:26the big talks taking place in the Commission today when it comes to China. How should the EU deal with
02:30China? I think there is a structural problem with unfair competition with products coming from
02:37China. It's not only the classical e-commerce products that we're just talking about, but of
02:41course, also industrial products. And I think the European Union needs to make sure that there is
02:47again a level playing field, that there is again a market-based economy, which is at the moment not
02:52possible. And we are losing so many industrial jobs. You mentioned it before, especially also in
02:57Germany. So I think the European Union needs to toughen up. And that contains the Industrial
03:03Accelerator Act that contains made in Europe provisions. But we also need to find a short-term
03:09solution for the surge of imports. So I think the Commission needs to put some more safeguards in place.
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