The European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) published a mission report and received a report-back from delegation chair Andreas Schwab on its 26–30 May 2025 visit to Buenos Aires. The delegation identified scope to deepen EU-Argentina cooperation on internal market files, notably regulatory simplification and public administration reform, and the development of rules for artificial intelligence and online platforms, alongside consumer protection and e-commerce compliance. Discussions with Argentina’s National Commission for Competition Defence highlighted the absence of dedicated digital markets legislation, plans to create a new agency and to combine ex-ante and ex-post tools to monitor competition, including in digital payments. The Ministry of Deregulation and State Transformation described a cross-sector review of legislation, agency restructurings and efforts to streamline company procedures, while stakeholders raised concerns about impacts on vulnerable groups and civil society. On product and online market oversight, the Argentine Institute of Standardisation and Certification flagged challenges such as counterfeit certificates and uneven standards for electronic appliances and advocated mandatory certification for some products, while Mercado Libre outlined IP enforcement and product-safety cooperation models aligned with EU frameworks including the Digital Services Act despite having no plans to expand into Europe. The Consumers Union of Argentina emphasised risks to minors and data privacy from AI and digitalisation and described support tools for elderly users and awareness campaigns. Operational exchanges covered Argentina’s move to fully digital customs declarations and digital signatures via the Customs Control and Collection Agency, ongoing negotiations on data-exchange agreements with neighbouring countries and a focus on high-risk imports. The National Agency for Ports and Navigation outlined plans to concession waterway maintenance, potentially with a toll system, and noted that foreign state-owned companies would not be given responsibility for logistics monitoring.
Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection 2025-05-26
European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection issues Buenos Aires mission report on deregulation AI and online platforms
The European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee reported on a May 2025 visit to Buenos Aires, identifying scope to deepen EU-Argentina cooperation on regulatory simplification, public administration reform, AI and online platform rules, and consumer and e-commerce protection. Argentine authorities outlined plans for a new competition agency with mixed ex-ante and ex-post tools for digital markets, deregulation and agency restructuring, strengthened product certification and online market oversight, and fully digital customs, while stakeholders highlighted risks for vulnerable groups, data privacy and product safety.