Standards
1. The Commission shall consult the Board, and shall support and promote the development and implementation of voluntary standards set by relevant European and international standardisation bodies, at least in respect of the following:
(a)
electronic submission of notices under Article 16;
(b)
templates, design and process standards for communicating with the recipients of the service in a user-friendly manner on restrictions resulting from terms and conditions and changes thereto;
(c)
electronic submission of notices by trusted flaggers under Article 22, including through application programming interfaces;
(d)
specific interfaces, including application programming interfaces, to facilitate compliance with the obligations set out in Articles 39 and 40;
(e)
auditing of very large online platforms and of very large online search engines pursuant to Article 37;
(f)
interoperability of the advertisement repositories referred to in Article 39(2);
(g)
transmission of data between advertising intermediaries in support of transparency obligations pursuant to Article 26(1), points (b), (c) and (d);
(h)
technical measures to enable compliance with obligations relating to advertising contained in this Regulation, including the obligations regarding prominent markings for advertisements and commercial communications referred to in Article 26;
(i)
choice interfaces and presentation of information on the main parameters of different types of recommender systems, in accordance with Articles 27 and 38;
(j)
standards for targeted measures to protect minors online.
2. The Commission shall support the update of the standards in the light of technological developments and the behaviour of the recipients of the services in question. The relevant information regarding the update of the standards shall be publicly available and easily accessible.
Codes of conduct
1. The Commission and the Board shall encourage and facilitate the drawing up of voluntary codes of conduct at Union level to contribute to the proper application of this Regulation, taking into account in particular the specific challenges of tackling different types of illegal content and systemic risks, in accordance with Union law in particular on competition and the protection of personal data.
2. Where significant systemic risk within the meaning of Article 34(1) emerge and concern several very large online platforms or very large online search engines, the Commission may invite the providers of very large online platforms concerned or the providers of very large online search engines concerned, and other providers of very large online platforms, of very large online search engines, of online platforms and of other intermediary services, as appropriate, as well as relevant competent authorities, civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders, to participate in the drawing up of codes of conduct, including by setting out commitments to take specific risk mitigation measures, as well as a regular reporting framework on any measures taken and their outcomes.
3. When giving effect to paragraphs 1 and 2, the Commission and the Board, and where relevant other bodies, shall aim to ensure that the codes of conduct clearly set out their specific objectives, contain key performance indicators to measure the achievement of those objectives and take due account of the needs and interests of all interested parties, and in particular citizens, at Union level. The Commission and the Board shall also aim to ensure that participants report regularly to the Commission and their respective Digital Services Coordinators of establishment on any measures taken and their outcomes, as measured against the key performance indicators that they contain. Key performance indicators and reporting commitments shall take into account differences in size and capacity between different participants.
4. The Commission and the Board shall assess whether the codes of conduct meet the aims specified in paragraphs 1 and 3, and shall regularly monitor and evaluate the achievement of their objectives, having regard to the key performance indicators that they might contain. They shall publish their conclusions.
The Commission and the Board shall also encourage and facilitate regular review and adaptation of the codes of conduct.
In the case of systematic failure to comply with the codes of conduct, the Commission and the Board may invite the signatories to the codes of conduct to take the necessary action.
Codes of conduct for online advertising
1. The Commission shall encourage and facilitate the drawing up of voluntary codes of conduct at Union level by providers of online platforms and other relevant service providers, such as providers of online advertising intermediary services, other actors involved in the programmatic advertising value chain, or organisations representing recipients of the service and civil society organisations or relevant authorities to contribute to further transparency for actors in the online advertising value chain beyond the requirements of Articles 26 and 39.
2. The Commission shall aim to ensure that the codes of conduct pursue an effective transmission of information that fully respects the rights and interests of all parties involved, as well as a competitive, transparent and fair environment in online advertising, in accordance with Union and national law, in particular on competition and the protection of privacy and personal data. The Commission shall aim to ensure that the codes of conduct at least address the following:
(a)
the transmission of information held by providers of online advertising intermediaries to recipients of the service concerning the requirements set in Article 26(1), points (b), (c) and (d);
(b)
the transmission of information held by providers of online advertising intermediaries to the repositories pursuant to Article 39;
(c)
meaningful information on data monetisation.
3. The Commission shall encourage the development of the codes of conduct by 18 February 2025 and their application by 18 August 2025.
4. The Commission shall encourage all the actors in the online advertising value chain referred to in paragraph 1 to endorse the commitments stated in the codes of conduct, and to comply with them.
Codes of conduct for accessibility
1. The Commission shall encourage and facilitate the drawing up of codes of conduct at Union level with the involvement of providers of online platforms and other relevant service providers, organisations representing recipients of the service and civil society organisations or relevant authorities to promote full and effective, equal participation, by improving access to online services that, through their initial design or subsequent adaptation, address the particular needs of persons with disabilities.
2. The Commission shall aim to ensure that the codes of conduct pursue the objective of ensuring that those services are accessible in compliance with Union and national law, in order to maximise their foreseeable use by persons with disabilities. The Commission shall aim to ensure that the codes of conduct address at least the following objectives:
(a)
designing and adapting services to make them accessible to persons with disabilities by making them perceivable, operable, understandable and robust;
(b)
explaining how the services meet the applicable accessibility requirements and making this information available to the public in an accessible manner for persons with disabilities;
(c)
making information, forms and measures provided pursuant to this Regulation available in such a manner that they are easy to find, easy to understand, and accessible to persons with disabilities.
3. The Commission shall encourage the development of the codes of conduct by 18 February 2025 and their application by 18 August 2025.
Crisis protocols
1. The Board may recommend that the Commission initiate the drawing up, in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3 and 4, of voluntary crisis protocols for addressing crisis situations. Those situations shall be strictly limited to extraordinary circumstances affecting public security or public health.
2. The Commission shall encourage and facilitate the providers of very large online platforms, of very large online search engines and, where appropriate, the providers of other online platforms or of other online search engines, to participate in the drawing up, testing and application of those crisis protocols. The Commission shall aim to ensure that those crisis protocols include one or more of the following measures:
(a)
prominently displaying information on the crisis situation provided by Member States’ authorities or at Union level, or, depending on the context of the crisis, by other relevant reliable bodies;
(b)
ensuring that the provider of intermediary services designates a specific point of contact for crisis management; where relevant, this may be the electronic point of contact referred to in Article 11 or, in the case of providers of very large online platforms or of very large online search engines, the compliance officer referred to in Article 41;
(c)
where applicable, adapt the resources dedicated to compliance with the obligations set out in Articles 16, 20, 22, 23 and 35 to the needs arising from the crisis situation.
3. The Commission shall, as appropriate, involve Member States’ authorities, and may also involve Union bodies, offices and agencies in drawing up, testing and supervising the application of the crisis protocols. The Commission may, where necessary and appropriate, also involve civil society organisations or other relevant organisations in drawing up the crisis protocols.
4. The Commission shall aim to ensure that the crisis protocols set out clearly all of the following:
(a)
the specific parameters to determine what constitutes the specific extraordinary circumstance the crisis protocol seeks to address and the objectives it pursues;
(b)
the role of each participant and the measures they are to put in place in preparation and once the crisis protocol has been activated;
(c)
a clear procedure for determining when the crisis protocol is to be activated;
(d)
a clear procedure for determining the period during which the measures to be taken once the crisis protocol has been activated are to be taken, which is strictly limited to what is necessary for addressing the specific extraordinary circumstances concerned;
(e)
safeguards to address any negative effects on the exercise of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter, in particular the freedom of expression and information and the right to non-discrimination;
(f)
a process to publicly report on any measures taken, their duration and their outcomes, upon the termination of the crisis situation.
5. If the Commission considers that a crisis protocol fails to effectively address the crisis situation, or to safeguard the exercise of fundamental rights as referred to in paragraph 4, point (e), it shall request the participants to revise the crisis protocol, including by taking additional measures.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
