Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Article 13 – title: Transmission of information concerning online targeting or ad delivery to other interested entities

Article 14 – paragraph 1: 1. Service providers that provide political advertising services in the Union but do not have an establishment in the Union shall designate, in writing, a natural or legal person as their legal representative in one of the Member States where the provider offers its services and register them with the national single points of contact. / Service providers shall notify the name, postal address, email address and telephone number of their legal representative to the national single point of contact in the Member State where that legal representative resides or is established. / Member States shall keep publicly available registers of all legal representatives registered on their territory under this Regulation and shall ensure that that information is easily accessible and that it is accurate and up to date. / The Commission shall keep a publicly available and easily accessible and machine-readable database of legal representatives registered within the Union under this Regulation.

Article 14 – paragraph 2: 2. The legal representative shall be responsible for ensuring compliance, and may be held liable for non-compliance, with the obligations under this Regulation, without prejudice to the liability and legal actions that could be initiated against the service provider. The legal representative shall be the addressee for all communications with the relevant service provider provided for in this Regulation. Any communication to that legal representative shall be deemed to be a communication to the represented service provider.

Article 14 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. Service providers shall provide their legal representative with necessary powers and sufficient resources to guarantee efficient and timely cooperation with the Member States’ competent authorities and, where relevant, the Commission, and to ensure the compliance with with their decisions.

Article 15 – paragraph 1 b (new): 1b. The initiation of investigation pursuant to paragraph 1a of this Article by the European Data Protection Board shall relieve the national data protection authority or authorities, or any competent authority where applicable, of its powers regarding the infringement at stake to supervise and enforce the obligations under this Regulation.

Article 15 – paragraph 1 c (new): 1c. The national data protection authorities shall, within 15 days after being informed of initiation of the investigation, or within seven days if within 60 days immediately preceding elections or referendums as referred to in Article 12(1d), transmit to the European Data Protection Board any information they hold about the infringement at stake.

Article 15 – paragraph 1 d (new): 1d. In the exercise of its powers of investigation under this Regulation the European Data Protection Board shall request the individual or joint support of any national data protection authority or authorities concerned by the suspected infringement, including the data protection authority of establishment.

Article 15 – paragraph 2: 2. Member States shall designate competent authorities that are to supervise and monitor the compliance of providers of intermediary services within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Sevices Act) with the obligations laid down in Articles 5 to 11 and 14 of this Regulation, where applicable. The competent authorities designated under Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) may also be one of the competent authorities designated to monitor the compliance of online intermediaries with the obligations laid down in Articles 5 to 11 and 14 of this Regulation. The Digital Services Coordinator referred to in Article 49 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 in each Member State shall be responsible for ensuring coordination at national level in respect of providers of intermediary services as defined by Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act). Article 58(1) to (4) and Article 60(1) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) shall be applicable for matters related to the application of this Regulation as regards providers of intermediary services.

Article 15 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. To the extent that the Commission has exclusive competence to monitor the compliance of very large online platforms and of very large search engines within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (Digital Services Act) with the obligations laid down in that Regulation, it shall be competent to monitor their compliance with Article 5(2d) and Article 7b(2) of this Regulation.

Article 15 – paragraph 3: 3. Each Member State shall designate one or more competent authorities to be responsible for the consistent application and enforcement of the aspects of this Regulation not referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2. The national competent authorities may be the same as those referred in Article 30 of Directive 2010/13/EU. Each competent authority designated under this paragraph shall structurally enjoy full independence both from the sector and from any external intervention or political pressure. It shall, acting in full independence, effectively monitor and take the measures necessary and proportionate to ensure consistent supervision, compliance with and enforcement of this Regulation.

Article 15 – paragraph 4: 4. Competent authorities referred to in paragraph 3, where exercising their supervisory tasks in relation to this Regulation, shall have at least the power to request to access to data, documents or any necessary information from providers of political advertising services, for the performance of their supervisory tasks. Competent authorities shall use that data only for the purpose of monitoring and assessing compliance with this Regulation, in accordance with relevant legislation on the protection of personal data and the protection of confidential informitation, and with the objective to maintain the security of the services.

Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point a a (new): (aa) request access to data, documents, or any necessary information from the providers of political advertising services;

Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point a b (new): (ab) order an end to infringements and, where appropriate, impose remedies that are proportionate to the infringement and necessary to bring it effectively to an end;

Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point c: (c) impose administrative fines and financial penalties, including periodic penalty payments;

Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point c a (new): (ca) carry out, or, where necessary in accordance with national law, request a judicial authority in their Member State to order inspections of any premises that providers of political advertising services use for purposes related to their trade, business, craft or profession, or to request other public authorities to do so, in order to examine, seize, take or obtain copies of information relating to a suspected infringement in any form, irrespective of the storage medium;

Article 15 – paragraph 5 a (new): 5a. Paragraphs 4 and 5 shall apply mutatis mutandis to the European Data Protection Board.

Article 15 – paragraph 5 b (new): 5b. Member States shall ensure that national competent authorities have all necessary means to carry out their tasks, including sufficient technical, financial and human resources to adequately supervise sponsors and providers of political advertising services under their competence.

Article 15 – paragraph 6: 6. Member States shall ensure that there is effective and structured cooperation among all relevant competent authorities and supervisory authorities referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 in particular in the framework of national elections networks, so as to facilitate the swift and secured exchange of information on issues connected to the exercise of their supervisory and enforcements tasks pursuant to this Regulation, including by jointly identifying infringements, sharing findings and expertise, and liaising on the application and enforcement of relevant rules.

Article 15 – paragraph 7: 7. Where a Member State designates one or more competent authorities, it shall ensure that the respective tasks of those authorities are clearly defined and that they cooperate closely and effectively when performing their tasks. Each Member State shall designate one competent authority as a national contact point at Union level for the purposes of all aspects of this Regulation. National contact points shall ensure effective cooperation between national competent authorities and with other national contact points and Union level authorities. Member States shall make publicly available the contact details of their national contact points. Member States concerned shall communicate the name of the other competent authorities and their respective tasks to the Network of National Contact Points.

Article 15 – paragraph 8 – point a: (a) the competent authorities applying supervisory or enforcement measures in a Member State shall, via the contact point referred to in paragraph 7, and without undue delay, and in any event no later than one month after a cooperation request, inform and consult the competent authorities in the other Member State(s) concerned on the supervisory and enforcement measures taken and their follow-up;

Article 15 – paragraph 8 – point c: (c) a competent authority shall, upon receipt of a justified request from another competent authority, provide the other competent authority with assistance so that the supervision or enforcement measures referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 can be implemented in an effective, efficient and consistent manner. The relevant competent authority so requested shall, via the contact points referred to in paragraph 7 and, without undue delay, and in any event no later than one month after a cooperation request, provide a response communicating the information requested, or informing that it does not consider that the conditions for requesting assistance under this Regulation have been met. Any information exchanged in the context of assistance requested and provided under this Article shall be used only in respect of the matter for which it was requested.

Article 15 – paragraph 8 a (new): 8a. Compliance with this Regulation by providers of political advertising services shall be subject to the competence of the Member State where the provider has its establishment. In case the provider is established in more than one Member State, it shall be deemed to be under the jurisdiction of the Member State in which it has its main establishment. Without prejudice to paragraphs 1 and 2, the competent authority or authorities of all Member States shall cooperate with and assist each other as necessary. / Where a national competent authority has reasons to suspect that a sponsor, provider or publisher of political advertising services infringed this Regulation in a manner affecting individuals in the Member State of that competent authority, it may request the contact point of establishment to assess the matter and to take the necessary investigatory and enforcement measures referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Article. A request shall be substantiated, justified and proportionate and at least indicate: / (a) the point of contact or legal representative of the provider of the political advertisement services concerned as provided for in Article 14; / (b) a description of the relevant facts, the provisions of this Regulation concerned and the reasons why the competent authority that sent the request suspects that the provider infringed this Regulation, including the description of the negative effects of the alleged infringement; / (c) any other information that the c…

Article 15 – paragraph 9: 9. Within the framework of the European Cooperation Network on Elections, a permanent Network of National Contact Points shall be established. The Network of National Contact Points shall serve as a platform for regular exchange of information and structured cooperation between national contact points and the Commission on all aspects of this Regulation. / In particular, the Network of National Contact Points shall facilitate: / (a) the swift and secured exchange of information and best practices among national contact points and other relevant authorities; / (b) the preparation, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, of common lines of action to help sponsors and providers of political advertising services, to comply with the requirements of this Regulation in harmonised way; / (c) the development of a harmonised approach on sanctions applicable at national level for infringements of this Regulation; / (d) the cooperation at Union level to guarantee a harmonised enforcement of this Regulation. / The Network of National Contact Points shall meet at least twice a year and, where necessary, at the duly justified request of the Commission or a Member State. It shall work in close cooperation with the European Regulators Group for AudioVisual Media Services, and other relevant authorities and networks. The Commission shall take part in the meetings of the Network of National Contact Points and provide administrative support.

Article 15 a (new): Article 15a / Right to lodge a complaint / Any person, or entity shall have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent authority that is the national contact point of the Member State where that entity or person is located or established against sponsors and providers of political advertising services, alleging an infringement of this Regulation. / The contact point of the Member State may dismiss any complaint which it deems manifestly unfounded and shall notify the complainant of its decision. / The contact point of the Member State shall transmit without undue delay complaints that fall within the competence of another competent authority in the same Member State to that competent authority. The contact point of the Member State shall transmit complaints that fall within the competence of another competent authority in another Member State to the contact point of that Member State within 10 working days. / The competent authority receiving the complaint shall assess, and where appropriate, act within fifteen working days. During electoral periods, the assessment shall take place within five working days. / During those proceedings, all parties shall have the right to be heard and receive appropriate information about the status of the complaint, in accordance with relevant national law.

Article 15 b (new): Article 15b / Activity reports / National contact points, designated pursuant to Article 15(7), shall draw up a standardised annual report on the activities covered by this Regulation of all competent authorities designated under in Article 15, including details of the number of complaints received pursuant to Article 15a and an overview of their follow-up. / The national contact points shall make the annual reports available to the public in a machine-readable format, and shall transmit them to the European Cooperation Network on Elections and, in the case of elections to the European Parliament, to the European Parliament.

Article 16 – paragraph 1: 1. In relation to Articles 3a to 11, 13 and 14 Member States shall lay down rules on sanctions including administrative fines and financial penalties applicable to providers of political advertising services under their jurisdiction for infringements of the present Regulation and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented. The sanctions provided for shall in each individual case be timely, effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point a: (a) the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the infringement;

Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point d: (d) any relevant previous infringements and any other aggravating or mitigating factor applicable to the circumstances of the case;

Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point e: (e) the degree of cooperation with the competent authority; and

Article 16 – paragraph 3 – point e a (new): (ea) the size and economic capacity of the political advertising service provider.

Article 16 – paragraph 4: 4. Infringements of Articles 3a, 5, 7, 7a and 7b shall be considered to be particularly serious where they concern political advertising published or disseminated during an electoral period and directed to citizens in the Member State in which the relevant election or referendum is being organised. / Member States may also impose periodic penalty payments to compel sponsors, providers of political advertising services and publishers to put to an end to a serious and repeated violation of this Regulation.

Article 16 – paragraph 4 a (new): 4a. National contact points shall notify the Commission of the type and the amount of the penalties imposed. Member States shall report annually on the type and amount of penalties imposed to enforce this Regulation. The Commission shall also periodically draw up a report for the purposes of Article 18 of this Regulation.

Article 16 – paragraph 6: 6. For infringements of the obligations laid down in Articles -12 and 12, the supervisory authorities referred to in Article 51 of the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and the European Data Protection Board may use the investigative and corrective powers laid down in that Regulation and within their scope of their competence impose administrative fines in line with Article 83 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and up to the amount referred to in Article 83(5) of that Regulation.

Article 16 – paragraph 6 a (new): 6a. In case of particularly serious and systemic infringements of the obligations laid down in Articles -12 and 12 by the sponsor, where the political advertising publisher is a very large online platform or a very large online search engine within the meaning of Article 33 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, the European Data Protection Board may order, for a strictly limited period of time, which does not exceed 15 days, the very large online platform or search engine not to provide targeting and ad delivery services for that particular sponsor, pursuant to Article 15(1a). Such suspension may be imposed in addition to or instead of an administrative fine.

Article 16 – paragraph 7: 7. For infringements of the obligations laid down in Articles -12 and 12, the supervisory authority referred to in Article 52 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 may use the investigative and corrective powers laid down in that Regulation and impose within the scope of its competence administrative fines in line with Article 66 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 up to the amount referred to in Article 66 (3) of that Regulation.

Article 16 – paragraph 7 a (new): 7 a. Member States shall report annually to the Commission on the sanctions imposed to enforce the provisions of this Regulation, in particular on the type of sanctions applied and the amount of the administrative fines and financial penalties. The Commission shall summarise and evaluate those reports annually and use them for the review process under Article 18.

Article 16 – paragraph 7 b (new): 7 b. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 19 to introduce minimum sanctions across the Union for infringements of the obligations laid down in Articles -12 and 12, paragraphs 1 to 1e, after having consulted competent authorities and other relevant stakeholders.

Article 18 – paragraph 1: Within two years after each election to the European Parliament, the Commission shall submit a report on the evaluation and review of this Regulation to the European Parliament and to the Council. This report shall assess the need for amendment to this Regulation, in particular with regard to: / (a) the scope of the Regulation and definition of political advertising in Article 2 (2); / (b) the effectiveness of the transparency measures, especially the declaration and mechanisms to identify the political nature of an advertisement in Articles 5 and 5a; / (c) the effectiveness of the supervision and enforcement structure and the need to introduce harmonised sanctions across the Union for infringements of the obligations laid down in this Regulation, and in particular the infringements referred to in Artricle 16(4); / (d) the effectiveness of this Regulation in view of technological, scientific and other developments; / (e) the interplay of this Regulation with the legal acts referred to in Article 1(4). / The report shall be made public.

Article 19 – paragraph 2: 2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 7(1b), Article 7a(5) and (6), Article 7b(6) and Article 9(4a) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of [until the application of this regulation is evaluated, two years after the next European Parliamentary elections].

Article 19 – paragraph 3: 3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 7(1b), Article 7a(5) and (6), Article 7b(6) and Article 9(4a) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

Article 19 – paragraph 3 a (new): 3 a. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.

Article 19 – paragraph 5: 5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 7(1b), Article 7a(5) and (6), Article 7b(6) and Article 9(4a) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or by the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

Article 19 a (new): Article 19 a / Committee procedure / 1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. / 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Article 20 – paragraph 2: 2. It shall apply from [3 months after the entry into force of this Regulation]. / However, Article 7b, paragraphs 1, 4 and 5 shall apply from [one year after the entry into force of this Regulation].

Annex I – title: Information to be provided under Article 7a(1)

Annex I – point a: (a) where the notice is not within or attached to the advertisement itself, an example/representation of the political advertisement or a link to it.

Annex I – point b: (b) the identity and place of establishment of the sponsor on behalf of whom the advertisement is prepared, placed, promoted, published, delivered or disseminated including their name, address, telephone number or electronic mail address, and whether they are a natural or legal entity.

Annex I – point c: (c) the period during which the political advertisement is delivered or disseminated and, where applicable and known to the publisher, the fact that the same advertisement has been disseminated in the past.

Annex I – point d: (d) any election, referendum, legislative or regulatory process with which the advertising is linked, if applicable.

Annex I – point e: (e) the aggregated amount spent on, and the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for the specific advertisement, and on the specific advertising campaign where relevant, including on the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery and dissemination of the political advertisements, as well as the aggregated actual amount spent and the value of other benefits received once known.

Annex I – point f: (f) the origin of the amounts and other benefits being used for the specific advertising campaign including for the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery and dissemination of the political advertisements.

Annex I – point h: (h) a link to the advertisement’s location in the European Repository for Online Political Advertisements.

Annex II: deleted / (deleted) / (deleted) / (deleted) / (deleted)