Former EU commissioner Günther Oettinger ranks among Chinese ultra-fast-fashion specialist Shein’s European lobbyists, according to French newspaper Le Monde. Shein has told FashionNetwork.com it is simply working with Oettinger. The EU’s transparency registries are showing more generally that Shein is keen to influence some 20 leading European politicians, at a time when EU institutions are attempting to impose constraints on the activity of Chinese e-tailers Shein and Temu.

Oettinger is a member of Germany’s conservative centre-right CDU party, and between 2010 and 2019 he acted as EU commissioner in three distinct areas: energy, the digital economy, and Union budgeting. From 2020, he has filed no less than 13 formal applications with the EU Commission to engage in lobbying activities. Oettinger is said to have since joined consulting firm Kekst CNC, to which Shein paid nearly €200,000 last year, according to transparency records.

This information sheds light on a recent report by Atlantico, which wrote in July about a meeting between Shein’s Executive Chairman Donald Tang and representatives of the EU Commission. Among them, the Commission’s director general for Communication Networks, Content and Technology, Roberto Viola. Last year, Shein officials met with German MPE Bernd Lange, chairman of the European Parliament’s committee on International Trade.

The news about Oettinger’s links with Shein comes at a time when the EU authorities are drawing up various bills designed to curb Shein’s business operations in Europe. The EU notably wants to eliminate the tax exemption on parcels under €150 entering Europe. Measures that the European textile industry is hoping will be quickly adopted, while opinion is divided among European e-tail players.

In addition to this, a law prohibiting EU entry to products potentially linked to forced labour is due to come into force in 2027. As early as 2020, the Public Eye NGO had accused Shein of enforcing questionable working conditions in production plants that were unsafe.

In just a few years, Shein has established itself as the second-largest fashion e-tailer in Europe, according to a survey by Cross-Border Commerce Europe. Last year, it ranked behind German e-tailer Zalando, ahead of Lithuanian site Vinted and US sites StockX and Nike.

Shein’s valuation now exceeds €60 billion, and in spring the site was included by the EU in the list of Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs). A designation that means Shein must provide access to its algorithms to the EU regulator. In addition, VLOPs must undergo an independent external audit once a year, at their own expense. The obligation theoretically applies to Shein as of the end of August 2024.