EU Digital Fairness Act Enforcement Push Gains FEAT Backing

Following the European Commission’s Digital Fairness Act, FEAT backs the latest proposals for tougher enforcement and improved coordination.

FEAT (Fully authorised European Alliance for Ticketing) has responded to the European Commission’s newly published proposals for the Digital Fairness Act (DFA), cautiously backing proposals to improve and broaden enforcement. FEAT welcomes the Commission’s plans to improve coordination between national authorities and directly enforce larger actions and also backs plans to require non-EU platforms to appoint an EU representative. However, the Alliance warns of the need for regulation to be simplified, with national and EU authorities working quickly and before an event takes place.

The new proposals would require ticket websites to disclose how many are left available and at what price. According to the new proposals, Ticketmaster and other platforms would be required to inform people in a virtual queue about the number of tickets still available at standard, advertised prices. The move follows continued controversy surrounding dynamic pricing systems in place for high-demand concerts over the last several years.

“Welcoming the Commission’s decision to prioritize proposals to improve the enforcement of existing laws rather than delay them, FEAT supports the new tools designed to tackle cross-border ticket fraud. The Alliance backs measures granting the Commission direct powers to investigate large-scale cases and issue fines, alongside efforts to accelerate coordination between national authorities,” FEAT tells Digital Music News.

“However, FEAT cautions that these updated rules will be effective only if they close existing enforcement gaps, noting ongoing frustrations with the rollout of the Digital Services Act (DSA). FEAT maintains that promoter-authorized resale remains the only way to protect fans from scams and being denied entry at the door.”

Sam Shemtob, Managing Director of FEAT, said, “Fraudulent and abusive ticket resale is an industrialized business, costing Europe’s consumers and live events industry more than €2.5 billion annually, with the top 10% of unauthorized traders accounting for 70% of those missing revenues.”

“We welcome the Commission’s decision to bring forward its work on enforcement, publishing proposals to update the CPC Regulation today alongside the Digital Fairness Act, rather than its original plan to leave enforcement reform for a later stage. It is encouraging that the Commission has recognized event ticketing as an issue, alongside the urgent need for stronger cross-border enforcement of existing consumer laws.”

“But the devil is in the detail,” Shemtob continued. “Our members’ experience of the Digital Services Act has been difficult, with some still awaiting responses from Digital Services Coordinators about ticket listings for concerts that took place… two years ago. Responsibilities for consumer enforcement are often spread across separate regional and national consumer authorities and now also Digital Services Coordinators, which are usually also separate. The EU’s proposals must close those gaps, and authorities must work quickly before an event takes place.”

“The Commission has recognized that consumer trust in event ticketing depends on stopping bad actors. It must now go further to curb a growing tsunami of fraudulent and abusive resale by enabling the many small businesses that underpin Europe’s live performance sector to enforce their reasonable ticket terms and conditions easily and efficiently, enabling promoter-authorized resale systems that guarantee consumers entry to shows,” Shemtob concluded.