Ireland calls for fairer EU rules on digital subscriptions

Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has called for new EU legislation requiring online subscriptions to be as easy to cancel as they are to sign up. In a submission to the European Commission on the upcoming Digital Fairness Act, the CCPC highlighted widespread consumer harm caused by complex cancellation processes, automatic renewals without warning, and free trials converting into paid subscriptions.

The regulator reported receiving at least 100 complaints in 2025 relating to difficulties cancelling digital contracts, including streaming platforms, software, dating apps, and gaming services. EU research supports these concerns, finding that more than two thirds of European consumers have struggled to cancel online subscriptions. The CCPC is advocating for an “easy in, easy out” legal standard and mandatory cancellation links in renewal reminders.

The submission also addresses broader pricing practices. The CCPC has urged the EU to restrict unfair personalised pricing based on consumer profiling and to require full transparency where dynamic pricing is used. While calling for stronger consumer protections, the authority emphasized that any new obligations must remain proportionate and consider their impact on businesses.

Recent experiences with Amazon Prime illustrate the issue. Amazon promotes Prime membership at €6.99 per month using checkout design that strongly nudges consumers toward enrollment. Following a U.S. enforcement action resulting in penalties and refunds totaling approximately €2.3 billion, testing by The Journal found that Prime cancellation was not always properly processed. Although Amazon maintains that cancellation is straightforward and errors are rare, the case highlights the regulatory concerns driving the proposed EU reforms.