BRUSSELS, May 16 (Reuters) - Chinese fast-fashion

e-commerce retailer Temu was hit with a European Union complaint

on Thursday, with pan-European consumers group BEUC saying the

PDD Group-owned unit might have breached online content

rules.

Under the European Union's Digital Services Act, online

marketplaces and intermediaries are required to fight illegal

and harmful content as well as counterfeit products on their

platforms.

BEUC said it has taken its grievance to the European

Commission while 17 of its members in countries including

France, Italy and the Netherlands have also filed complaints

with their relevant national authorities.

Temu, with 75 million monthly EU users as of March, often

failed to provide consumers crucial information about the

sellers on its platform and whether their products meet EU

product safety requirements, BEUC said.

The complaint said that Temu uses manipulative practices

such as dark patterns to get consumers to spend more than they

may want.

"Temu is being complacent here because it is breaching the

EU's Digital Services Act," BEUC Director General Monique Goyens

said in a statement.

"Products sold on marketplaces, whether online or offline,

whether they are European, American or Chinese, must be safe and

comply with European law if they sell to European consumers."