E-commerce compliance calendar: the deadlines, and when to start
The regulatory deadlines weighing on an online shop, in two lists: what already applies, and what is coming. With, for each upcoming deadline, a preparation alert at D-90 and D-30 if you subscribe to the calendar.
Why a calendar rather than an article Because the dates move. The Digital Omnibus, in force since 27 July 2026, postponed the obligations on high-risk AI systems from 2 August 2026 to 2 December 2027, and opened a window until 2 December 2026 to mark AI-generated content already published. An article written in May 2026 about the AI Act now gives you wrong information. A subscribed calendar corrects itself.
What already applies
| Since | Obligation | What it demands day to day |
|---|---|---|
| 28 May 2022 | 30-day reference price, Omnibus directive | Price history captured, and a promotional calendar that protects the 30 days before each peak |
| 13 Dec 2024 | General product safety, GPSR | At least three statements on every listing, four where the manufacturer is not established in the Union, and a responsible operator established in the Union. Stock placed on the market before 13 December 2024 and compliant with the previous directive remains sellable |
| 28 Jun 2025 | Service accessibility, European Accessibility Act | A checkout usable by keyboard and screen reader. Companies with fewer than ten staff providing services, under two million euros, are exempt. The 2030 window does not exempt your site: it is a transitional period for equipment in use before June 2025 |
| 1 Jul 2026 | End of the €150 customs exemption, flat €3 duty per item until 1 July 2028 | Recalculate landed prices and the fee display for consignments arriving from outside the Union |
| 19 Jul 2026 | Ban on destroying unsold clothing and footwear, ecodesign regulation | A reuse or recycling route for damaged returns, with records kept for five years. Micro and small companies exempt, medium-sized ones from 19 July 2030 |
| 2 Aug 2026 | AI Act, transparency, article 50 | Labelling the deepfakes you publish, article 50(4). Telling people they are talking to a machine and marking generated content fall on the provider of the tool, not on you: require it in the contract |
| 1 Sep 2026 | E-invoicing: receiving | Every VAT-registered French company must be able to receive an electronic invoice, with no size threshold. Large companies and mid-caps also issue, and transmit e-reporting |
What is coming
| Deadline | Obligation | Market | Start before |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Sep 2026 | Environmental claims, the Empowering Consumers directive | EU | Now: clear out generic green wording and sustainability labels you award yourself |
| 2 Dec 2026 | Machine-readable marking of generated content: compliance deadline for generative AI systems placed on the market before 2 August 2026. This falls on the system’s provider, not on the merchant using it | EU | Sep 2026: inventory generated listings and content |
| 18 Feb 2027 | Battery passport, light means of transport included | EU | Nov 2026, if you sell electric bikes or scooters |
| 1 Sep 2027 | E-invoicing: issuing for small companies, e-reporting | FR | Jun 2027: clean company identifiers and VAT numbers in the customer file |
| 2 Dec 2027 | AI Act: obligations on high-risk Annex III systems, postponed by the Digital Omnibus | EU | Sep 2027, if you are in scope: HR, credit, biometrics |
| 2 Aug 2028 | AI Act: obligations on high-risk Annex I systems, postponed by the Digital Omnibus | EU | May 2028 |
The best-known deadline has passed, the next one is close 1 September 2026 has been reached: every VAT-registered French company must now be able to receive an electronic invoice, with no size threshold. Many remembered 2027, which only concerns small companies issuing. The next deadline is 27 September 2026, on environmental claims. The detail is in our article on the real e-invoicing date.
How this calendar is kept
Every date comes from the official text or its implementing regulation, verified on the date shown under each table. When a date moves, the calendar file is updated: that is the point of subscribing rather than downloading. Deadlines whose date is not yet set by the texts, such as the digital product passport by category, will enter here when it is, rather than sitting here with a guessed date. Checked on 1 September 2026: no delegated act has yet been adopted for the categories a general online shop sells, the first one expected covering steel. Textiles moved on without any date being set: the consultation closed on 30 March 2026 and the Joint Research Centre published a first content specification in May 2026, forty-nine data points. Adoption is expected in 2027, followed by twelve to eighteen months of transition. The battery passport applies from 18 February 2027 to industrial batteries above 2 kWh, electric-vehicle batteries and light means of transport batteries: if you sell electric bikes or scooters, you are in scope.
This calendar covers regulatory deadlines. Commercial peaks, Black Friday, sales periods and family occasions by country, have their own calendar, with the price-freeze windows. And to know what your platform covers natively on each of these obligations, see the compliance matrix by platform.
This tool is part of our resources: documents you can use as they are, published whenever they are useful outside an engagement.
A deadline concerns you and you do not know where to start? Write to us.