Leaked EU Digital Fairness Act Would Ban 10 Dark Patterns, Drip Pricing and Loot Boxes for Minors

The European Commission’s draft Digital Fairness Act would blacklist 10 manipulative online design practices, ban drip pricing and outlaw loot boxes and pay-to-win features for minors, according to a leaked version of the proposal reported by Euronews on Monday, Nov. 9. The Commission is due to present the Digital Fairness Act on Wednesday, Nov. 11. It said it “does not comment on leaks.”

The draft would turn the EU’s 2005 Unfair Commercial Practices Directive into a directly applicable regulation and would allow fines of up to 6% of a company’s global annual turnover for serious breaches, according to the leak as summarized by Euronews and the law firm HLC. The rules would apply 12 months after entering into force.

What the leaked draft would ban

Dark patterns are interface designs that push users toward choices they might not otherwise make, such as hiding the option to decline, creating false urgency or making cancellation harder than signing up. The draft lists 10 such practices that would be banned outright. It would also outlaw drip pricing, in which mandatory fees are revealed only late in the checkout.

For video games and apps used by children, the draft would ban loot boxes, paid random rewards, and pay-to-win mechanics for minors. Subscription services would have to offer a clear “terminate the contract here” button so that cancelling is as easy as subscribing. The draft also sets out rules for AI shopping agents that buy on a consumer’s behalf, a growing area as large tech companies roll out AI agents that can act for users.

Analysis: the cost-benefit math

The leaked impact assessment estimates that the measures would save consumers €88.4 billion between 2025 and 2035, and puts the annual benefit at €13.7 billion against €678 million a year in compliance costs for businesses, Euronews reported.

By The Boston Report’s calculation from those figures, the estimated annual benefit is about 20 times the annual business cost. Impact assessments are produced by the Commission to support its own proposals, so industry groups are likely to challenge both numbers during negotiations. The Commission’s consumer law review page says the initiative builds on a 2024 fitness check that found existing rules relevant but insufficient to deal with harmful practices online, including dark patterns, addictive design, unfair personalization and misleading influencer marketing.

Who is pushing back

Germany circulated a non-paper on Oct. 14 opposing the plan, according to Euronews, a sign that Berlin will press for changes once member states start negotiating. The file is led by Michael McGrath, the commissioner responsible for justice and consumer protection. The Commission says the proposal was shaped by a public consultation, a call for evidence, a survey of children through the EU Children’s Participation Platform and a youth policy dialogue, and that protecting minors is a key focus.

The proposal arrives as Europe’s households are already squeezed, with eurozone inflation at 4% in October. For more on European regulation and companies, see our business news section.

What comes next

Once the Commission presents the text, it goes to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, where member states such as Germany can seek changes. Negotiations typically take a year or more. Companies that sell online in Europe, from game publishers to subscription platforms and airlines, would then have 12 months to comply.

Sources

• Euronews: EU to blacklist ten manipulative online design traps, leaked draft shows
• HLC: EU Digital Fairness Act leaked draft regulation proposes significant reform of EU consumer law
• European Commission: Review of EU consumer law, Digital Fairness Act