The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU presented, on Thursday 28 October, its compromise text on chapters four and five of the proposed Digital Services Regulation (Digital Service Act or DSA) to the members of the Working Party on Competitiveness and Growth (see EUROPE 12821/8).
The compromise text states that Member States have 15 months from the date of entry into force of the Regulation to appoint a Digital Service Coordinator.
The Commission’s original proposal was for a period of 10 months for Member States to determine the national competent authority to enforce the application of the DSA.
These coordinators, the document stresses, will be able to have “all the means necessary for the accomplishment of their tasks” be it “technical, financial and human resources”.
In the event that a Digital Service Coordinator decides to initiate proceedings against an intermediary service provider, the text specifies that every other coordinator should be notified. The latter, informed, can therefore not launch proceedings for the same facts against the same entity.
The compromise document also comes back to the amounts of the fines incurred by the services found to be at fault. Maximum fines for failure to comply with DSA obligations would be capped at 6% of annual turnover, calculated on the basis of the previous year.
Fines can be up to a maximum of 1% of turnover for providing “inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information and failure to submit to an on-the-spot check”, the text says.
Cooperation between coordinators
In order to facilitate cooperation, a Digital Service Coordinator could ask another coordinator, in the context of an investigation, to provide specific information on an intermediary service provider. The Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the EU says the coordinator should receive this information within two months, compared to one month in the initial proposal.
Refusal to comply with any of these requests should automatically be accompanied by a “reasoned justification”, the text adds.
Finally, the compromise document also provides details regarding on-site inspections and cooperation between national courts and the European Commission.
On the first point, the text stresses that officials and accompanying persons authorised by the Commission will be able to carry out an inspection on presentation of a written document stating the purpose of the visit, its aim and the potential penalties incurred.
The Commission will inform the Digital Services Coordinator of the Member State where the inspection takes place.
Finally, in the area of cooperation, the document states that national courts may not take decisions that run counter to a decision adopted by the Commission in the context of the DSA. The text also specifies that these courts should “avoid” issuing decisions contrary to a decision envisaged by the Commission in the context of a procedure initiated.
See the compromise document: https://bit.ly/3CuLrLM (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)