Upcoming EU eCommerce Laws Every Merchant Should Prepare for in 2027

Élise runs a PrestaShop store selling kitchenware and small countertop appliances into France, Germany, and Poland — roughly €1.8 million a year in revenue (illustrative), seven staff, and one ops manager who handles compliance "on the side." In the same week this June, two emails landed that had nothing to do with each other except that both became her problem. The first was from her freight forwarder, asking for "battery passport" documentation on a cordless hand mixer she'd just started shipping to a distributor in Hamburg. The second came from a B2B client's procurement team, requesting a written statement on how her site's live chat widget used AI, because their legal department had flagged the EU AI Act.

Neither was on her radar. She'd already handled the obvious items — a GDPR-compliant cookie banner, GPSR safety labelling updated before the December 2024 deadline, VAT filed through the One Stop Shop. She assumed compliance was a box she'd ticked once. It isn't. Brussels doesn't pass one law and stop; it passes a law, then a regulation that builds on it, then delegated acts that fill in the details years later. 2026 and 2027 are shaping up to be years when several of those follow-up pieces land at once.

This piece maps what's confirmed, what's phased in on a known date, and what's still an educated prediction rather than settled law. If you sell into the EU from PrestaShop, at least two or three of these will touch your store within the next eighteen months.

Why finishing GDPR and GPSR doesn't mean you're done

GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) and the General Product Safety Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/988, in force since 13 December 2024) covered two different problems: how you handle customer data, and whether the physical products you sell are safe and traceable. Neither one says anything about how those products are manufactured, what happens to them at end of life, or how the algorithms on your site behave. That's a separate track of legislation, and it's the one accelerating now.

Five threads are worth tracking closely: product passports, the AI Act, packaging rules, VAT reform, and accessibility enforcement. A sixth — right to repair and circular economy obligations — sits just behind them.

Digital Product Passports: batteries first, then a widening net

The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781, "ESPR") is the framework law that creates the Digital Product Passport concept. It doesn't itself force every product category into a passport on day one — it authorises the Commission to issue delegated acts, category by category, each with its own data requirements and start date.

Battery passport: 18 February 2027

That rollout is slow by design, and batteries are first out of the gate under the separate Batteries Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1542), with the battery passport obligation landing on 18 February 2027. If you sell anything with a built-in or removable battery — power tools, e-bikes, cordless kitchen gear, portable electronics — that date matters more than most people realise. The passport has to expose data like chemistry, carbon footprint, recycled content, and collection/recycling instructions via a scannable identifier, typically a QR code, linked to a public record.

Which categories come next (informed prediction)

Textiles and electronics are widely expected to be among the next categories under ESPR's broader work plan, though — and this is a prediction, not a confirmed date — exact timing for those hasn't been locked down as firmly as the battery passport. If you're already handling supplier documentation for GPSR, extending that same data-collection habit to material composition, repairability scoring, and carbon data now will save you a scramble later. We go deeper into the mechanics in our dedicated piece on Digital Product Passport requirements, including how PrestaShop merchants have implemented early passport data fields in our PrestaShop DPP guide.

The AI Act's clock is already running, whether you noticed or not

Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the AI Act, entered into force on 1 August 2024, but it doesn't apply all at once — it phases in.

Already banned since February 2025

Prohibited practices (manipulative dark-pattern AI, certain biometric categorisation, social scoring) have applied since 2 February 2025. If your store uses any AI-driven "urgency" manipulation that crosses into exploiting vulnerabilities, this is already live, not upcoming.

Transparency duties from August 2026

Transparency obligations for AI systems that interact with people — chatbots, AI-generated content, emotion-recognition tools — apply from 2 August 2026. This is the one that caught Élise: a chatbot has to disclose that customers are talking to an AI, and AI-generated marketing images or copy may need labelling.

High-risk obligations from August 2027

Most high-risk AI system obligations apply from 2 August 2027. Recommendation engines and dynamic pricing tools generally sit outside the high-risk category as currently scoped, but that's worth revisiting as guidance firms up — the classification isn't always intuitive.

We cover the store-level detail in how the EU AI Act will affect online stores, and there's a PrestaShop-specific module walkthrough in our AI Act PrestaShop guide.

Packaging rules land before either of those — August 2026

The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2025/40, "PPWR") applies from 12 August 2026 — earlier than the AI Act's transparency phase and a full six months ahead of the battery passport. It sets minimum recycled-content targets, restricts unnecessary packaging (including the empty-space ratio in shipping boxes), and tightens labelling for recyclability. If you're still using oversized boxes with excess void fill to protect products in transit, this is the regulation that will make that expensive. See our dedicated breakdown of future packaging and recycling regulations for eCommerce.

VAT is being rebuilt underneath you, slowly

The One Stop Shop and Import One Stop Shop schemes already simplified EU VAT for distance selling, but the adopted "VAT in the Digital Age" package (ViDA) pushes further — toward a single VAT registration across the bloc, mandatory e-invoicing and digital reporting for cross-border transactions, and platforms being treated as the deemed supplier for certain transactions they facilitate. These changes are phased through roughly 2028 to 2035, so nothing forces action in the next few months — but the direction is clear enough that merchants using marketplaces alongside their own PrestaShop store should start watching how their invoicing software handles digital reporting formats. Full detail in preparing for future VAT & OSS changes.

The European Accessibility Act: already law, now entering enforcement

Unlike everything above, this one isn't upcoming — Directive (EU) 2019/882 already applies, since 28 June 2025, aligning with EN 301 549 and effectively WCAG 2.1 AA for most online store functionality. Service microenterprises (fewer than 10 staff and €2 million or less in annual turnover or balance sheet) are exempt, but plenty of PrestaShop merchants outgrow that threshold without noticing. What changes over the next year isn't the law — it's enforcement activity, as national market surveillance authorities start actually checking. See what the European Accessibility Act means for PrestaShop stores.

Right to repair and circular economy: the next wave forming

Right-to-repair obligations and broader circular economy expectations are visible on the horizon but less date-specific right now than the frameworks above — treat mentions of firm 2027 deadlines for repairability scoring or spare-parts obligations as informed prediction rather than confirmed law until the Commission publishes category-specific delegated acts. Merchants selling electronics, appliances, or anything with replaceable components should assume repairability documentation becomes a competitive, and eventually regulatory, expectation.

A merchant's 2026–2027 timeline at a glance

Building a roadmap instead of a panic list

A last-minute scramble is expensive and it's also usually unnecessary — none of these dates arrived without years of warning. Here's a sequence that works for most small and mid-size PrestaShop merchants:

1. Map your product catalogue against battery content, packaging materials, and AI touchpoints. You can't scope a project until you know what's actually in scope.
2. Talk to suppliers now about data, not documents. Battery passports and future DPP categories need structured data (chemistry, recycled content percentages, carbon figures) — a PDF datasheet won't cut it long-term.
3. Audit every AI feature on your storefront. Chatbot, recommendation engine, review-summarisation tool, dynamically generated meta descriptions — list them, then check disclosure requirements against the August 2026 transparency deadline.
4. Get a packaging review done before mid-2026, not after. Void-fill ratios and recycled content are easier to fix during a supplier renegotiation than mid-contract.
5. Confirm your accessibility exemption status honestly. If you're near the 10-employee or €2M threshold, assume you'll cross it and plan accordingly rather than hoping you stay exempt.
6. Revisit VAT and invoicing software vendor roadmaps annually, not because anything's due immediately, but because ViDA's e-invoicing requirements will eventually touch your accounting stack.

Quick checklist

• [ ] Battery-containing SKUs identified and supplier data requests sent
• [ ] Packaging materials audited against PPWR recycled-content direction
• [ ] AI features on-site inventoried with a disclosure owner assigned
• [ ] Accessibility audit scheduled or refreshed since June 2025
• [ ] VAT/invoicing vendor asked about ViDA e-invoicing roadmap
• [ ] Calendar reminders set for Aug 2026, Feb 2027, and Aug 2027

None of this needs to happen this quarter. But putting dates on a calendar now, while there's no fire to put out, is a lot cheaper than doing it under pressure from a distributor's compliance questionnaire — which is exactly how Élise found out about half of it.

Start with the audit in step one this week: export your product catalogue, flag anything with a battery or significant packaging footprint, and list every AI-powered feature live on your site. That single spreadsheet becomes the backbone of every compliance project described here.

Frequently asked questions

When does the EU AI Act fully apply to online stores?

It phases in: prohibited practices since 2 February 2025, transparency duties for chatbots and AI content from 2 August 2026, and most high-risk obligations from 2 August 2027. Most stores are affected first by the transparency phase, not the high-risk one.

Do I need a Digital Product Passport now?

Only if you sell products already covered — currently batteries, with the passport obligation from 18 February 2027 under the Batteries Regulation. Other categories like textiles and electronics are expected but not yet confirmed with fixed dates.

Is the European Accessibility Act still "upcoming"?

No — it already applies, since 28 June 2025. What's changing now is enforcement intensity, not the legal deadline. Service microenterprises under 10 staff and €2M turnover are exempt.

Will VAT rules change immediately because of ViDA?

Not immediately. ViDA is adopted but phases in mostly between 2028 and 2035, covering single VAT registration, e-invoicing, and platform deemed-supplier rules. There's no urgent action required today, but invoicing systems should be watched.

What's the earliest of these deadlines a typical merchant should prepare for?

PPWR packaging rules apply from 12 August 2026, just before the AI Act's transparency duties later that same month — making mid-2026 the first real pressure point for most physical-goods sellers.

Are all these dates guaranteed, or could they shift?

Dates tied to published regulations (GPSR, Accessibility Act, PPWR, AI Act phases, battery passport) are fixed in law. Broader claims about future DPP categories or right-to-repair deadlines beyond what's published are informed predictions, not confirmed dates.

Related reading

• Future Digital Product Passport (DPP) Requirements Explained
• How the EU AI Act Will Affect Online Stores
• What the European Accessibility Act Means for PrestaShop Stores
• Preparing for Future VAT & OSS Changes in Europe
• Complete EU Compliance Checklist for Online Stores

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