Explaining Reality to Brussels: ECSP’s work on fair Rules for Retail Real Estate

By Julien Bouyeron, Secretary General, European Council of Shopping Places (ECSP)

Working in Brussels, you learn quickly and firsthand that European policy is not shaped by laws alone, but by dialogue. This is why the European Council of Shopping Places (ECSP) places such importance on exchanges between policymakers and the operators who implement EU legislation every day.

Our annual high-level dinner in December 2025 served precisely this purpose. Bringing together ECSP Board members, senior retail real estate executives, and representatives of the European Commission and Parliament, the discussion focused on three files that are crucial for the sector: the implementation of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), the fight against organized retail crime, and the challenge of restoring a level playing field between omnichannel retailers and global online marketplaces.

While all three topics are critical, the level playing field debate was at the center of the discussion, because the terms of that debate are changing.

This commentary was published in ACROSS Issue 1|2026

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Europe has Rules — Enforcement is the Issue

Retailers operating in shopping places comply with a dense and demanding regulatory framework. Product safety rules, chemicals legislation, labor law, taxation, consumer protection and environmental standards all apply and are actively enforced. Compliance is not optional and represents a real cost.

However, this compliance burden is not applied evenly across all retail channels. Cross-border e-commerce, driven by massive volumes of low-value parcels shipped directly to consumers, has pushed enforcement systems to their limits. When market surveillance and customs controls cannot keep pace, weaker oversight risks turning into a structural competitive advantage.

This dynamic creates two parallel realities within the Single Market: one where compliance is mandatory and controlled, and another where it is uncertain and therefore cheaper.

Marketplaces such as Temu, Shein, Amazon and AliExpress were frequently mentioned during our high-level dinner — not as ideological targets, but as practical examples of this imbalance. The issue is not opposition to e-commerce. Omnichannel retail is already a reality, and many tenants in shopping places are active online themselves. The issue is fairness: comparable business activities should operate under comparable obligations.

A Competition and Consumer Protection Challenge

The consequences of uneven enforcement go beyond competition. Enforcement gaps also weaken consumer protection, making it harder to prevent illegal, unsafe or non-compliant products from entering European homes. Ultimately, this undermines trust in the Single Market itself. Against this backdrop, recent EU decisions mark a meaningful shift. The agreement by member states to introduce a €3 customs duty on low-value e-commerce parcels from July 2026 sends an important signal. Removing the long-standing exemption for parcels below €150 does not penalize digital commerce; it restores a basic principle of fairness between retail channels. For physical retailers — and the retail destinations that host them — this represents a long-awaited recognition that enforcement matters just as much as legislation.

The role of ECSP: Explaining Reality

This is where ECSP’s role becomes essential. As the only European organization exclusively dedicated to retail real estate, ECSP represents the places where retail regulation becomes reality: shopping centers, retail parks and mixed-use destinations embedded in local communities.

Our members — from major European operators to national retail real estate councils — give us a unique ability to aggregate experience across markets and translate it into clear, evidence-based messages for EU institutions. Our advocacy is not abstract. It is grounded in operational realities: how rules are applied, where they work, and where they need adjustment.

The high-level dinner illustrated the value of this approach. Discussions were technical and pragmatic, focusing on customs capacity, accountability for illegal products, and enforcement tools that can function at platform scale without shifting disproportionate burdens onto operators.

Looking ahead: Shaping workable European Rules

The level playing field debate also has a security dimension. Physical shopping places are increasingly targeted by organized retail crime, while largely digital online marketplaces are less exposed, aside from warehousing and logistics. ECSP therefore calls for explicit recognition of organized retail crime in the EU’s organized crime agenda, so enforcement reflects the realities faced by retail destinations.

More broadly, Europe is entering a new legislative phase. After years of intense rule-making, the priority is now implementation, enforcement and adjustment. For the retail real estate sector, this shift is decisive.

ECSP’s task is to ensure that future European legislation — whether on digital commerce, energy, security or consumer protection — is shaped with a clear understanding of how retail places function in practice. By maintaining a permanent dialogue with EU lawmakers, sharing evidence and proposing pragmatic solutions, ECSP helps bridge the gap between political ambition and operational reality.

Europe’s retail real estate industry is not asking for fewer rules. It is asking for fair competition, legal coherence and enforcement that works at scale. Ensuring this balance is not only vital for our sector, but also for the credibility and resilience of the European Single Market itself.

About Julien Bouyeron

Julien Bouyeron is Secretary General of the European Council of Shopping Places (ECSP). An “explainer” by nature, he studied literature and worked as a French teacher before moving into advocacy and trade association work. He has held various positions, including at the French Retail Association (FCD) and the European DIY Retail Association. With over ten years of experience in Brussels, he brings a deep understanding of both the retail sector and EU policymaking. He has represented ECSP since May 2023.

ECSP

The European Council of Shopping Places (ECSP) is the voice of the retail real estate sector in Brussels. It defends the interests of the industry vis-à-vis EU lawmakers and shares knowledge and expertise with its members at European level. ECSP members include companies such as Unibail-Rodamco Westfield, ECE, SES, Eurocommercial and Union Investment, as well as national councils including FACT (France), CNCC (Italy), GCSP (Germany) and ACSP (Austria). https://www.ecsp.eu/