What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Added:Recital 24: (24) An advertising campaign should refer to the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery and dissemination of a series of linked advertisements in the course of a contract for political advertising services, on the basis of common preparation, sponsorship and funding. It should include the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery and dissemination of an advertisement or versions of an advertisement on different media and at different times within the same electoral cycle or legislative process.

Added:Recital 25: (25) The definition of political advertising should not affect national definitions of political party, political aims or political campaign periods at national level.

Added:Recital 26: (26) In order to cover the broad range of relevant service providers connected to political advertising services, providers of political advertising services should be understood as comprising providers involved in the preparation such as the design and planning of an advertisement or campaign, or in the placement, promotion, publication, delivery and dissemination of political advertising. For example, providers of political advertising services may initiate political advertising services on behalf of sponsors. The provision of targeting and ad delivery techniques in the context of political advertising should be understood to be a political advertising service.

Added:Recital 26 a (new): (26a) Providers of purely ancillary services in relation to political advertising, which are provided in addition to and which merely complement the preparation, placement, promotion, publication and dissemination of political advertising, should not be understood as providers of political advertising services within the meaning of this Regulation. Ancillary services are services that typically depend on and complement a political advertising service. Such services can include transportation, financing and investment, purchasing, sales, catering, marketing, computer services, cleaning and maintenance.

Added:Recital 26 b (new): (26b) A sponsor should be understood as the person on whose behalf political advertising is prepared, placed, promoted, published or disseminated, for instance an individual candidate in an election or a political party or political organisation.

Added:Recital 26 c (new): (26c) Political advertising publishers should be understood as providers of political advertising services, usually at the end of the chain of service providers, promoting, publishing, delivering or disseminating political advertising by broadcasting, making it available through an interface or otherwise bringing it to the public.

Added:Recital 27: (27) The notion of political advertising should not include messages that are shared by individuals in their purely personal capacity. Individuals should not be considered as acting in their personal capacity if they are publishing messages the dissemination or publication of which involves remuneration or benefits in kind from third parties.

Added:Recital 28: (28) Once the sponsor declares an advertisement to be political, this should be clearly and without delay indicated to other service providers involved in the political advertising services. In addition, once an advertisement has been identified as political, its further dissemination should still comply with transparency and due diligence requirements. For instance, when a political advertisement is shared organically, the it should still be labelled as political.

Recital 28 a (new): (28a) To guarantee the effectiveness of the transparency and due diligence requirements, sponsors and providers of advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors should transmit in good faith relevant information in a timely, clear, complete and accurate manner to enable the other providers of services in the chain to comply with the Regulation. When the political advertising publisher is the only provider of political advertising services, the sponsor should communicate such information to the political advertising publisher.

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Changed:Recital 28 b (new): (28b) Where providers of political advertising services become aware of a manifest error, inaccuracy or incompleteness in the declaration that advertising is or is not political, or in the information communicated, providers of political advertising services should makerequire reasonablethe effortssponsors to ensure that such manifest error, inaccuracy or incompleteness is corrected, in particular through confirmation of information provided by the service provider, or where relevant the sponsor itself.corrected.

Recital 28 c (new): (28c) A declaration or information should be considered manifestly erroneous if it is apparent from the advertising, the sponsor, or the context in which the relevant service is provided, without further verifications or fact-finding exercises.

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Changed:Recital 28 d (new): (28d) BestReasonable efforts should include diligent and objective measuresmeasures, such as contacting the sponsor or the service providers concerned,concerned to complete or correct the information. Account should be taken of the nature and importance of the erroneous or missing information in relation to the requirements laid down by this Regulation. BestReasonable efforts should also be reflected in the contractual arrangements among service providers and with the sponsor, where relevant. The provider of political advertising services should not be required to engage in excessive or costly fact-finding exercises or complex contact with the sponsor or the providers of political advertising services concerned.

Change 8

Removed:Recital 28 e (new): (28e) To support compliance with the requirements laid down in this Regulation it is necessary for Member States to cooperate on the preparation of standards to guide sponsors on the declaration of political advertising. It is also necessary for the Commission to encourage the preparation of such standards in the context of the European Cooperation Network on Elections, and to facilitate the preparation of guidance, codes of conduct and standards in cooperation with relevant industry bodies, civil society and the research community, in particular for the accurate and effective collection and transmission of information from sponsors to providers of political advertising services and political advertising publishers.

Added:Recital 29: (29) The rules on transparency, due diligence and data protection laid down in this Regulation should only apply to political advertising services, i.e. political advertising that is normally provided against remuneration, which may include a benefit in kind. The requirements should not apply to content uploaded by a user of an online intermediary service, such as an online platform, and disseminated by the online intermediary service without consideration for the placement, publication, delivery or dissemination for the specific message, unless the user has been remunerated, or received benefit in kind, by a third party for the political advertisement.

Removed:Recital 29: (29) The rules on transparency and due diligence laid down in this Regulation should only apply to political advertising services, i.e. political advertising that is normally provided against remuneration, which may include a benefit in kind. The transparency requirements should not apply to content uploaded by a user of an online intermediary service, such as an online platform, and disseminated by the online intermediary service without consideration for the placement, publication or dissemination for the specific message, unless the user has been remunerated by a third party for the political advertisement.

Added:Recital 30: (30) The transparency requirements should also not apply to the sharing of information through electronic interpersonal communication services such as electronic message services or telephone calls, as long as no political advertising service is involved.

Removed:Recital 32: (32) As regards online intermediaries, Regulation (EU) 2021/XX [Digital Services Act] applies to political advertisements published or disseminated by online intermediaries through horizontal rules applicable to all types of online advertising, including commercial and political advertisements. Based on the definition of political advertising established in this Regulation, it is appropriate to provide additional granularity of the transparency requirements laid out for advertising publishers falling under the scope of Regulation (EU) 2021/XX [Digital Services Act], notably very large platforms. This concerns in particular information related to the funding of political advertisements. The requirements of this Regulation leave unaffected the provisions of the Digital Services Act, but should inform the risk assessment and mitigation obligations for very large online platforms as regards their advertising systems including the techniques of targeting and amplification of political advertising employed.

Added:Recital 31: (31) Freedom of expression as protected by Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights covers an individual’s right to hold political opinions, receive and impart political information and share political ideas. Every limitation to it has to comply with Article 52 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and that freedom can be subject to modulations and restrictions where they are necessary and justified by the pursuit of a legitimate public interest and comply with the general principles of EU law, such as proportionality and legal certainty. That is inter alia the case where the political ideas are communicated through advertising service providers. Freedom of expression is one of the cornerstones of a lively democratic debate.

Removed:Recital 33: (33) The preparation, placement, promotion, publication and dissemination of political advertising can involve a complex chain of service providers. This is the case in particular where the selection of advertising content, the selection of targeting and amplification criteria, the provision of data used for the targeting and amplification of an advertisement, the provisions of targeting and amplification techniques, the delivery of an advertisement and its dissemination may be controlled by different service providers. For instance, automated services can support matching the profile of the user of an interface with the advertising content provided, using personal data collected directly from the user of the service and from the users’ online conduct, as well as inferred data.

Added:Recital 31 a (new): (31a) Given the importance of political advertising, it is essential that this Regulation ensures a regulatory framework which ensures full, equal and unrestricted access to political advertising services and their required transparency information for all recipients, including persons with disabilities. Therefore, it is important that accessibility requirements for providers of political advertising services are consistent with existing Union law, such as the European Accessibility Act and the Web Accessibility Directive and that Union law is further developed, so that no one is left behind as result of digital innovation.

Removed:Recital 34: (34) In view of the importance of guaranteeing in particular the effectiveness of the transparency and due diligence requirements including to ease their oversight, providers of political advertising services should ensure that the relevant information they collect in the provision of their services, including the indication that an advertisement is political, is complete and accurate, and it is provided to the political advertising publisher which brings the political advertisement to the public. In order to support the efficient implementation of this requirement, and the timely and accurate provision of this information, providers of political advertising services should transmit this information at the same time with the provision of the relevant service, and consider and support automating the transmission of information among providers of political advertising services. When providers of political advertising services become aware that information which they have transmitted has been updated, they should ensure that this updated information is communicated to the relevant political advertising publisher.

Added:Recital 32: (32) As regards online intermediaries, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) applies to political advertisements published or disseminated by online intermediaries through horizontal rules applicable to all types of online advertising, including commercial and political advertisements. Based on the definition of political advertising established in this Regulation, it is appropriate to provide additional granularity of the transparency requirements laid out for advertising publishers falling under the scope of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act), notably very large online platforms. This concerns in particular information related to the funding of political advertisements. The requirements of this Regulation leave unaffected the provisions of the Digital Services Act, but should inform the risk assessment and mitigation obligations for very large online platforms as regards their advertising systems including the targeting and ad delivery techniques of political advertising services employed. To assist Member States and service providers, the Commission should provide guidelines on the interaction between and complementary nature of different Union legal acts and this Regulation and on the interpretation of any similar requirements therein.

Removed:Recital 38: (38) Transparency of political advertising should enable citizens to understand that they are confronted with a political advertisement. Political advertising publishers should ensure the publication in each political advertisement of a clear statement to the effect that it is a political advertisement and of the identity of its sponsor. Where appropriate, the name of the sponsor could include a political logo. Political advertising publishers should ensure that advertisements that are political should be correctly labelled as such and to make use of labelling which is effective, taking into account developments in relevant scientific research and best practice on the provision of transparency through the labelling of advertising. In light of technological and other developments in relevant scientific research, the Commission should adopt a delegated act establishing common standards including harmonised, efficient and prominent labels for political advertisement.

Added:Recital 33: (33) The preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery and dissemination of political advertising can involve a complex chain of service providers. This is the case in particular where the selection of advertising content, the selection of targeting and ad delivery criteria, the provision of data used for the targeting and delivery of an advertisement, the provisions of targeting and ad delivery techniques, the delivery of an advertisement and its dissemination may be controlled by different service providers.

Removed:Recital 39: (39) This information should be provided in a transparency notice which should also include the identity of the sponsor and where applicable, the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor, in order to support accountability in the political process. The place of establishment of the sponsor and whether the sponsor is a natural or legal person should be clearly indicated. Personal data concerning individuals involved in political advertising, unrelated to the sponsor or other involved political actor should not be provided in the transparency notice. The transparency notice should also contain information on the dissemination period, any linked election, the amount spent for and the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for the specific advertisement as well for the entire advertising campaign, the source of the funds used and other information to ensure the fairness of the dissemination of the political advertisement. Information on the source of the funds used concerns for instance its public or private origin, the fact that it originates from inside or outside the European Union. Information concerning linked elections or referendums should include, when possible, a link to information from official sources regarding the organisation and modalities for participation or for promoting participation in those elections or referendums. The transparency notice should be available immediately once the advertising is published or disseminated, and the informatio…

Added:Recital 34: (34) In view of the importance of guaranteeing in particular the effectiveness of the transparency and due diligence requirements including to ease their oversight, sponsors and where relevant providers of political advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors should ensure the accuracy of information that they provide. Providers of political advertising services should ensure that the relevant information they collect in the provision of their services, including the indication that an advertisement is political, is complete, and it is provided to the political advertising publisher which disseminates the political advertisement. In order to support the efficient implementation of this requirement, and the timely and accurate provision of this information, providers of political advertising services should transmit this information at the same time with the provision of the relevant service, and consider and support automating the transmission of information among providers of political advertising services by adapting their online interfaces to facilitate compliance. When providers of political advertising services become aware that information which they have transmitted has been updated, they should ensure that this updated information is communicated to the relevant political advertising publisher.

Removed:Recital 40: (40) Political advertising publishers should ensure that each political advertisement contains a clear indication of where the transparency notice could be easily retrieved. The requirement that the information about the transparency notice is to be inter alia clearly visible should entail that it features prominently in the advertisement - use could be made, for example, of a dedicated webpage link, a Quick Response code (or “QRcode”), or equivalent clear and user-friendly technical measures. The requirement that information published in the transparency notice is to be easily accessible, machine readable where technically possible, and user friendly should entail that it addresses the needs of people with disabilities. Annex I of Directive 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act) contains accessibility requirements for information, including digital information that should be used to render political information accessible for persons with disabilities.

Added:Recital 36: (36) Steps could also include advertising publishers providing an efficient mechanism for individuals to indicate that an advertisement is political, and taking effective action in response to such indications.

Removed:Recital 42: (42) Since political advertising publishers make political advertisements available to the public, they should publish or disseminate that information to the public together with the publication or dissemination of the political advertisement. Where political advertising publishers become aware that a political advertisement does not fulfil the transparency requirements under this Regulation, they should make best efforts to fulfil the requirements under this Regulation. When the information cannot be completed or corrected without undue delay, political advertising publishers should not make available or should discontinue the publication or dissemination to the public of the political advertisements not fulfilling the transparency requirements under this Regulation. In such situation, political advertising publishers should inform the provider of services concerned and, where relevant the sponsor, of the reasonable steps taken to fulfil the requirements under this Regulation.

Added:Recital 37: (37) While providing for specific requirements, none of the obligations laid down in this Regulation should be understood as imposing a general monitoring obligation on intermediary service providers for political content organically shared by natural or legal persons, nor should they be understood as imposing a general obligation on intermediary service providers to take proactive measures in relation to illegal content or activities which those providers transmit or store.

Added:Recital 38: (38) Transparency of political advertising should enable individuals to understand that they are confronted with a political advertisement. Political advertising publishers should ensure the publication in each political advertisement of a clear statement that it is a political advertisement, of the identity of its sponsor and of the political campaign it is part of. Where appropriate, the name of the sponsor could include a political logo. Political advertising publishers should ensure that advertisements that are political should be correctly labelled as such and to make use of labelling which is effective, taking into account developments in relevant scientific research and best practice on the provision of transparency through the labelling of advertising. In light of technological and other developments in relevant scientific research and market practices, the Commission should adopt a delegated act establishing harmonised and efficient labelling techniques for political advertisement.

Added:Recital 39: (39) This information should be provided in a transparency notice which should also include the identity of the sponsor and where applicable, the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor, in order to support accountability in the political process. The place of establishment of the sponsor and whether the sponsor is a natural or legal person should be clearly indicated. Personal data concerning individuals involved in political advertising, unrelated to the sponsor or other involved political actor should not be provided in the transparency notice. The transparency notice should also contain information on the dissemination period, any linked election, the amount spent for and the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for the specific advertisement as well for the entire advertising campaign, the source of the funds used and other information to ensure the fairness of the dissemination of the political advertisement. Information on the source of the funds used concerns for instance its public or private origin, the fact that it originates from inside or outside the European Union. Information concerning linked elections or referendums should include, when possible, a link to information from official sources regarding the organisation and modalities for participation or for promoting participation in those elections or referendums. The transparency notice should be available at the moment the advertising is published or disseminated, and the information i…

Added:Recital 40: (40) ‎Political advertising publishers should ensure that each political advertisement contains a clear indication of where the transparency notice could be easily retrieved. The presentation of the information may vary depending on the means used. In order to easily retrieve the information in the transparency notice, use could be made for instance of a link to a dedicated webpage, onscreen or via audio means, a Quick Response code (QR code), or equivalent user-friendly technical measures. The requirement that the information about the transparency notice is to be inter alia clearly visible should entail that it features prominently in or with the advertisement. The requirement that information published in the transparency notice is to be easily accessible, machine readable where technically possible, and user friendly should entail that it addresses the needs of people with disabilities. Annex I of Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act) contains accessibility requirements for information, including digital information that should be used to render political information accessible for persons with disabilities.

Added:Recital 41: (41) Transparency notices should be designed to raise user awareness and help the clear identification of the political advertisement as such. They should be designed to remain in place or remain accessible in the event a political advertisement is further disseminated for instance posted on another platform or forwarded between individuals. The information included in the transparency notice should be published when the publication of the political advertisements start and be retained for a period of ten years one year after the last publication. The retained information should also include information about political advertising which was terminated or which was taken down by the publisher and the reason for the removal.

Added:Recital 42: (42) Since political advertising publishers make political advertisements available to the public, they should publish or disseminate that information to the public together with the publication or dissemination of the political advertisement. Where political advertising publishers become aware that a political advertisement does not fulfil the transparency requirements under this Regulation, they should make best efforts to fulfil the requirements under this Regulation. When the information cannot be completed or corrected without undue delay, political advertising publishers should not make available or should discontinue the placement, promotion, publication, delivery or dissemination to the public of the political advertisements not fulfilling the transparency requirements under this Regulation. In such situation, political advertising publishers should inform the provider of services concerned and, where relevant the sponsor, of the reasonable steps taken to fulfil the requirements under this Regulation.

Recital 42 a (new): (42a) When complying with these obligations, providers of political advertising services should act with due regard to fundamental rights, and other rights and legitimate interests. Providers of political advertising services should in particular pay due regard to freedom of expression and access to information, including media freedom and pluralism.

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Changed:Recital 42 b (new): (42b) This regulationRegulation should facilitate the work of interested actors, including researchers, in their specific role to support free and fair elections or referendums and fair electoral campaigns, including by scrutinising the sponsors of political advertisement and analysing the political advertisement landscape. Therefore, political advertising publishers which are Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) within the meaning of Regulation xxx(EU) [Digital2022/2065 (Digital Services Act]Act) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) as defined in Regulation xxx(EU) [Digital2022/2065 (Digital Services Act]Act) should make the information contained in the transparency notice available and update it, in real time, through the repositories of advertisements published pursuant to Regulation xxx [Digital Services Act]. The European Commission should ensure a provision of a service, namely a European library for political ads to support political advertising publishers that are not VLOPs within the meaning of Regulation xxx [Digital Services Act] and VLOSEs as defined in Regulation xxx [Digital Services Act] to comply with the provisions of this Article. Political advertising publishers which are not VLOPs within the meaning of Regulation xxx [Digital Services Act] and VLOSEs as defined in Regulation(EU) xxx2022/2065 [Digital(Digital Services Act] should ensure that the information contained in the transparency notice is made available in the European library for political advertisements without undue delay. Information made available on the interface of …Act).

Change 10

Removed:Recital 44: (44) Information about the amounts spent on and the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for political advertising services can usefully contribute to the political debate. It is necessary to ensure that an appropriate overview of political advertising activity can be obtained from the annual reports prepared by relevant political advertising publishers. To support oversight and accountability, such reporting should include information about expenditure on the targeting or amplification of political advertising in the relevant period, aggregated to campaign or candidate. To avoid disproportionate burdens, those transparency reporting obligations should not apply to enterprises qualifying under Article 3, paragraphs 1 to 3, of Directive 2013/34/EU.

Added:Recital 42 c (new): (42c) The Commission should establish a European repository for online political advertsiments to support political advertising publishers that are not VLOPs within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) and VLOSEs as defined in Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) to comply with the provisions of this Regulation. Political advertising publishers which are not VLOPs within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) and VLOSEs as defined in Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) should ensure that the information contained in the transparency notice is made available in the European repository for online political advertisements without undue delay, and no later than 24 hours. Information made available on the interface of political advertising publishers should be provided in a machine readable format according to common data structure and standards, developed by the Commission in consultation with relevant stakeholders. Information in the repositories of VLOPs and VLOSEs and information in the European repository for online political advertisements should be connected via a common application programming interface and be publicly accessible via a single portal.

Removed:Recital 45: (45) Political advertising publishers providing political advertising services should put in place mechanisms to enable individuals to report to them that a particular political advertisement which they have published does not comply with this Regulation. The mechanisms to report such advertisement should be easy to access and use, and should be adapted to the form of advertising distributed by the advertising publisher. As far as possible, these mechanisms should be accessible from the advertisement itself, for instance on the advertising publisher’s website. Political advertising publishers should be able to rely on existing mechanisms where appropriate . Where political advertising publishers are online hosting services providers within the meaning of the Digital Services Act, with regards to the political advertisements hosted at the request of the recipients of their services, the provisions of Article 14 of the Digital Services Act continue to apply for notifications concerning non-compliance of such advertisements with this Regulation. Where political advertising publishers are online hosting services providers within the meaning of Regulation xxx (the Digital Services Act), with regard to the political advertisements hosted at the request of the recipients of their services, political advertising publishers should be able to rely on the notice mechanism pursuant to Regulation xxx (the Digital Services Act) for notifications concerning non-compliance of such advertisem…

Added:Recital 44: (44) Information about the amounts spent on and the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for political advertising services can usefully contribute to the political debate. It is necessary to ensure that an appropriate overview of political advertising activity can be obtained from the annual reports prepared by relevant political advertising publishers. To support oversight and accountability, such reporting should include information about expenditure on the targeting or delivery of political advertising in the relevant period, aggregated to campaign or candidate. To avoid disproportionate burdens, those transparency reporting obligations should not apply to enterprises qualifying under Article 3, paragraphs 1 to 3, of Directive 2013/34/EU.

Removed:Recital 45 a (new): (45a) The political advertising publishers should make reasonable efforts to address in a timely, diligent and objective manner the notifications received pursuant to this Regulation, by contacting the relevant service providers and, as relevant, the sponsor. The political advertising publisher should inform the author of the notification and the service providers concerned of the follow up given to the notification and provides information on redress possibilities, including under Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Councilа, in respect of the advertisement to which the notification relates. Where a notification contains sufficient information to enable a diligent provider of political advertising services to identify, without a detailed examination and complex contact process, that it is clear that information is missing or incomplete, the political advertising publisher should act without undue delay. / а Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and repealing Directive 2009/22/EC (OJ L 409, 4.12.2020, p. 1)

Added:Recital 45: (45) Political advertising publishers providing political advertising services should put in place mechanisms to enable individuals to report to them that a particular political advertisement which they have published does not comply with this Regulation. The mechanisms to report such advertisement should be easy to access and use, and should be adapted to the form of advertising distributed by the advertising publisher. As far as possible, these mechanisms should be accessible from the advertisement itself, for instance on the advertising publisher’s website. Political advertising publishers should be able to rely on existing mechanisms where appropriate . Where political advertising publishers are online hosting services providers within the meaning of the Digital Services Act, with regards to the political advertisements hosted at the request of the recipients of their services, the provisions of Article 16 of the Digital Services Act continue to apply for notifications concerning non-compliance of such advertisements with this Regulation. Where political advertising publishers are online hosting services providers within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act), with regard to the political advertisements hosted at the request of the recipients of their services, political advertising publishers should be able to rely on the notice mechanism pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) for notifications concerning non-compliance of s…

Removed:Recital 45 b (new): (45b) In order to ensure the effectiveness of the transparency and due diligence requirements during an election or a referendum, political advertising publishers should address, within the last month preceding the election or the referendum, any notification that they receive about an advertisement linked to this vote within 48 hours, by contacting the services providers concerned and, where relevant, the sponsor.

Added:Recital 45 a (new): (45a) Where a particular advertisement does not comply with this Regulation, mechanisms provided by the publisher should enable individuals to flag the advertisement concerned. Where those mechanisms are not available, individuals should be able to report such political advertisement directly to the competent authorities.

Removed:Recital 45 c (new): (45c) Any action taken by a political advertising publisher should strictly target the correction, completion or removal of specific items of information not in compliance with this Regulation. In doing so, it should have due regard for freedom of expression and information, and other fundamental rights.

Added:Recital 45 b (new): (45b) The political advertising publishers should make reasonable efforts to address in a timely, diligent and objective manner the notifications received pursuant to this Regulation, by contacting the relevant service providers and, as relevant, the sponsor. The political advertising publisher should inform the author of the notification and the service providers concerned of the follow up given to the notification and provides information on redress possibilities, including under Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council1a, in respect of the advertisement to which the notification relates. Where a notification contains sufficient information to enable a diligent provider of political advertising services to identify, without a detailed examination and complex contact process, that it is clear that information is missing or incomplete, the political advertising publisher should act without undue delay. / 1a Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2020 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers and repealing Directive 2009/22/EC (OJ L 409, 4.12.2020, p. 1).

Removed:Recital 55: (55) Providers of political advertising services established in a third country that offer services in the Union should designate a mandated legal representative in the Union that is registered with the national single contact point, to allow for effective oversight of this Regulation in relation to those providers. The legal representative could be the one designated on the basis of Article 27 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679) or the representative designated on the basis of Article 11 of Regulation (EU)2021/xxx [the DSA]. Member States should keep a publicly available register of all legal representatives registered on their territory under this Regulation.

Added:Recital 45 c (new): (45c) In order to ensure the effectiveness of the transparency and due diligence requirements during an election or a referendum, political advertising publishers should process, within the last month preceding the election or the referendum, any notification that they receive about an advertisement linked to this vote without undue delay and no later than 48 hours, by contacting the services providers concerned and, where relevant, the sponsor. Political advertising publishers that are micro and small enterprises should process any such notification without undue delay.

Removed:Recital 60 a (new): (60a) Within the framework of the European Cooperation Network on Elections, a permanent Network of National Contact Points should be established to serve as platform for the regular exchange of information, and for structured cooperation, between national contact points and the Commission concerning all aspects of this Regulation.

Added:Recital 45 d (new): (45d) Any action taken by a political advertising publisher should strictly target the correction, completion or removal of specific items of information not in compliance with this Regulation. In doing so, it should have due regard for freedom of expression and information, and other fundamental rights.

Removed:Recital 61: (61) With a view to facilitating the effective application of the obligations set out in the regulation, it is necessary to empower national authorities to request from the services providers the relevant information on the transparency of political advertisement. Information to be transmitted to competent authorities could concern an advertising campaign, be aggregated by years or concern specific advertisements. In order to ensure that the requests for such information can be complied with in an effective and efficient manner, and at the same time that the providers of political advertising services are not subject to any disproportionate burdens, it is necessary to set certain conditions that those requests should meet. In the interest of the timely oversight of an election process in particular, providers of political advertising services should quickly respond to requests from competent authorities, and always within 10 working days upon receipt of the measure. In the last month preceding an election or a referendum, an infringement of this Regulation should be deemed to negatively and severely affect citizens' rights and therefore providers of political advertising services should provide the requested informationwithout undue delay. In the interest of legal certainty and in compliance with the rights of defence, requests to provide information from a competent authority should contain an adequate statement of reasons and information about available redress. Providers o…

Added:Recital 46: (46) In order to allow specific entities to play their role in democracies, it is appropriate to lay down rules on the transmission of information published with the political advertisement or contained in the transparency notice to interested actors such as vetted researchers, journalists, civil society organisations and accredited election observers, in order to support the performance of their respective roles in the democratic process. Providers of political advertising services should not be required to respond to requests which are manifestly unclear, excessive or concern information not within control of the service provider. Further, the relevant service provider should be allowed to charge a reasonable fee in case of repetitive and costly requests, taking into account the administrative costs of providing the information.

Removed:Recital 66 a (new): (66a) The Commission should encourage Member States’ authorities, acting in context of the Network of National Contact Points, to prepare common codes of conduct, interpretative guidance and standards to support the sponsors, the service providers acting on behalf of sponsors and the providers of political advertising services to comply with the obligations in this Regulation. Such codes of conduct, guidance and standards should be prepared in cooperation with other relevant coordination bodies at European level and with representatives of civil society and industry, taking due account of technological and scientific developments and of the work of relevant international standard-setting bodies.

Added:Recital 47: (47) Personal data collected directly from individuals, or indirectly such as observed or inferred data, when grouping individuals according to their assumed interests or derived through their online activity, behavioural profiling and other analysis techniques, is increasingly used to target political messages to groups or individual voters or individuals, and to amplify their impact. On the basis of the processing of personal data, in particular data considered sensitive under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council[1] and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council[2], different groups of voters or individuals can be segmented and their characteristics or vulnerabilities exploited for instance by disseminating the advertisements at specific moments and in specific places designed to take advantage of the instances where they would be sensitive to a certain kind of information/message. That has specific and detrimental effects on citizens’ fundamental rights and freedoms with regard to the processing of their personal data and their freedom to be treated fairly and equally, not to be manipulated, to receive objective information, to form their opinion, to make political decisions and exercise their voting rights. This furthermore negatively impacts the democratic process as it enables a fragmentation of the public debate about important societal issues, predatory voter analysis, selective outreach and, ultimately, t…

Removed:Recital 67: (67) Within two years after each election to the European Parliament, the Commission should submit a public report on the evaluation and review of this Regulation. In preparing that report the Commission should take into account the implementation of this Regulation in the context of other elections and referendums taking place in the Union. The report should review inter alia the continued suitability of the provisions of this Regulation and its annexes and consider the need for their revision. In particular, the Commission should assess the appropriateness of the scope and definitions and the effectiveness of the obligations, the governance and enforcement provisions, including in the light of technological progress and new scientific evidence.

Added:Recital 47 a (new): (47a) The existing avenues under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 for lawfully tailoring and addressing advertising to individuals are subject to systemic abuse, especially with regard to collecting the free and informed consent of individuals, which cannot be solved under the current regulatory framework.

Removed:Recital 68 a (new): (68a) Member States should lay down rules on penalties, including administrative fines and financial penalties, applicable to infringements of this Regulation and should ensure that those rules are effectively enforced. The fines and penalties provided for should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Member States may also impose periodic penalty payments for serious and repeated violation of this Regulation.

Added:Recital 47 b (new): (47b) Dark patterns on online interfaces of online platforms are practices that materially distort or impair, either on purpose or in effect, the ability of users of the service to make autonomous and informed choices or decisions concerning the personal data they provide for the purpose of political advertising. Providers of online platforms should therefore be prohibited from nudging users of the service and from distorting or impairing the autonomy, decision-making, or choice of the users.

Removed:Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a: (a) harmonised transparency and due diligence obligations for sponsors and providers of political advertising services, including political advertising publishers to provide, collect, retain, disclose and publish information connected to the provision of such services in the internal market;