Transparency and due diligence obligations for political advertising services
1. Political advertising services shall be provided in a transparent manner in accordance with the obligations laid down in this Article, Articles 7 to 17 and Article 21.
2. Providers of political advertising services shall ensure that the contractual arrangements concluded for the provision of a political advertising service enable compliance with the relevant provisions of this Regulation, including those relating to the allocation of responsibility and those relating to the completeness and accuracy of information.
Identification of political advertising services
1. A provider of advertising services shall request sponsors, and providers of advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors, to declare whether the advertising service that they have requested the provider of advertising services to perform constitutes a political advertising service within the meaning of Article 3, point 5, and whether they fulfil any of the requirements under Article 5(2). Sponsors, and providers of advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors, shall make such declarations truthfully and shall be responsible for their accuracy.
2. Providers of political advertising services shall ensure that the contractual arrangements concluded for the provision of a political advertising service require the sponsor, or providers of advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors, to provide the declaration in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article and the relevant information necessary to comply with Articles 9(1), 11(1) and 12(1). That information shall be transmitted in a complete and accurate manner and without undue delay.
3. Sponsors shall provide and ensure the accuracy of the information necessary for the providers of political advertising services to comply with Article 9(1), points (a), (d), (e) and (f), Article 11(1), points (a) to (d), and Article 12(1), points (a), (b), (c), (e), (h) and (k), before or during the period of publication, delivery, or dissemination of the political advertisement.
Where a sponsor, or a provider of advertising services acting on behalf of a sponsor, becomes aware that information which it has transmitted has changed, it shall ensure that updated information is transmitted to the relevant provider of political advertising services in a timely, complete and accurate manner.
Where a sponsor, or a provider of advertising services acting on behalf of a sponsor, becomes aware that any information transmitted to or published by the political advertising publisher is incomplete or inaccurate, it shall contact, without undue delay, the political advertising publisher concerned and shall transmit completed or corrected information to that political advertising publisher.
4. Providers of political advertising services shall require sponsors, or providers of advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors, who submit a declaration or information in accordance with this Article that is manifestly erroneous to correct that declaration or that information. Sponsors, or providers of advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors, shall make such corrections, which shall be complete and accurate, without undue delay.
5. Providers of political advertising services using an online interface shall ensure that that online interface is designed and organised in a way that facilitates compliance by sponsors, and providers of advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors, with their obligations as referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and in Article 9(1).
Identification of a political advertisement
1. For the purpose of determining whether a message constitutes political advertising within the meaning of Article 3, point 2, point (b), account shall be taken of all its features, including:
(a)
the content of the message;
(b)
the sponsor of the message;
(c)
the language used to convey the message;
(d)
the context in which the message is conveyed, including the period of dissemination;
(e)
the means by which the message is prepared, placed, promoted, published, delivered or disseminated;
(f)
the target audience;
(g)
the objective of the message.
2. The Commission shall draw up common guidance intended to contribute to the proper application of this Article.
Record-keeping
1. Providers of political advertising services shall retain, to the extent necessary to comply with this Regulation, information they collect in the provision of their services on the following:
(a)
the political advertisement or political advertising campaign to which the service or services are connected;
(b)
the specific service or services that they provided in connection with the political advertising;
(c)
the amounts they invoiced for the service or services that they provided, and the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for the service or services provided;
(d)
information on the public or private origin of the amounts and other benefits referred to in point (c), as well as whether they originated from inside or outside of the Union;
(e)
the identity and the contact details of the sponsor of the political advertisement and, where applicable, of the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor and, for legal persons, their place of establishment; and
(f)
where applicable, an indication of the election, referendum, legislative or regulatory process to which the political advertisement is linked.
2. Providers of political advertising services shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the information retained pursuant to paragraph 1 is complete and accurate.
3. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be in written or in electronic form. Such information shall be retained in a machine-readable format for a period of seven years from the date of the last preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery or dissemination, as the case may be.
4. This Article shall not apply to micro-undertakings qualifying under Article 3(1) of Directive 2013/34/EU, if the provision of advertising services is purely marginal and ancillary to their main activities.
Transmission of information to the political advertising publisher
1. Providers of political advertising services shall ensure that the information referred to in Article 9(1) is transmitted in a timely, complete and accurate manner to political advertising publishers to enable them to comply with their obligations under this Regulation.
Each provider of political advertising services shall transmit the information referred to in the first subparagraph during the provision of the relevant service and in accordance with best practice and industry standards and, where technically possible, by means of a standardised automated process.
When the political advertising publisher is the only provider of political advertising services, the sponsor shall transmit the relevant information to the political advertising publisher.
2. Where a provider of political advertising services becomes aware that information which it has transmitted has changed, it shall ensure that updated information is transmitted to the relevant political advertising publisher.
Labelling and transparency requirements for each political advertisement
1. Political advertising publishers shall ensure that each political advertisement is made available together with the following information in a clear, salient and unambiguous way:
(a)
a statement that it is a political advertisement;
(b)
the identity of the sponsor of the political advertisement and, where applicable, the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor;
(c)
where applicable, the election, referendum, legislative or regulatory process to which the political advertisement is linked;
(d)
where applicable, a statement to the effect that the political advertisement has been subject to targeting or ad-delivery techniques;
(e)
a transparency notice containing the information referred to in Article 12(1), or a clear indication of where it can be easily and directly retrieved.
2. Political advertising publishers shall ensure the completeness of information referred to in paragraph 1. Political advertising publishers shall ensure the accuracy of the information on where the transparency notice referred to in paragraph 1, point (e), can be retrieved.
3. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be made available in the form of labels adapted to the medium used.
Those labels shall be prominent, shall enable individuals to easily identify a political advertisement as such, and shall remain in place in the event that the political advertisement is further disseminated.
4. By 10 July 2025, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts establishing the format and the template of the labels referred to in paragraph 3. Those implementing acts shall ensure that labels are adapted to the medium used, including for audiovisual and printed media as well as online and offline advertising, taking into account the particular characteristics of that medium, as well as the latest technological and market developments, relevant scientific research and best practices.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 29(2).
5. Member States, including competent authorities, and the Commission shall encourage the drawing up of voluntary codes of conduct intended to contribute to the proper application of this Article, taking into account the specific characteristics of the relevant service providers involved and the specific needs of micro, small and medium-sized undertakings qualifying under Article 3(1), (2) and (3) of Directive 2013/34/EU.
Transparency notices
1. Political advertising publishers shall ensure that the transparency notice referred to in Article 11(1), point (e), includes the following information:
(a)
the identity of the sponsor and, where applicable, of the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor, including their name, email address, and, where made public, their postal address, and, when the sponsor is not a natural person, the address where it has its place of establishment;
(b)
the information required under point (a) on the natural or legal person that provides remuneration in exchange for the political advertisement if this person is different from the sponsor or the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor;
(c)
the period during which the political advertisement is intended to be published, delivered or disseminated;
(d)
the aggregated amounts and the aggregated value of other benefits received by the providers of political advertising services, including those received by the publisher in part or full exchange for the political advertising services, and, where relevant, of the political advertising campaign;
(e)
information on public or private origin of the amounts and other benefits referred to in point (d) as well as whether they originate from inside or outside the Union;
(f)
the methodology used for the calculation of the amounts and value referred to in point (d);
(g)
where applicable, an indication of elections or referendums and legislative or regulatory processes with which the political advertisement is linked;
(h)
where the political advertisement is linked to specific elections or referendums, links to official information about the modalities for participation in the election or referendum concerned;
(i)
where applicable, links to the European repository for online political advertisements referred to in Article 13;
(j)
information on the mechanisms referred to in Article 15(1);
(k)
where applicable, whether a previous publication of the political advertisement or of an earlier version of it has been suspended or discontinued due to an infringement of this Regulation;
(l)
where applicable, a statement to the effect that the political advertisement has been subject to targeting techniques or ad-delivery techniques on the basis of the use of personal data, including information specified in Article 19(1), points (c) and (e);
(m)
where applicable and technically feasible, the reach of the political advertisement in terms of the number of views and of engagements with the political advertisement.
2. Political advertising publishers shall ensure that the information referred to in paragraph 1 is complete.
Political advertising publishers shall ensure the accuracy of the information of paragraph 1, points (d), (f), (i), (j) and (m), before and during the period of publication, delivery, or dissemination of the political advertisement.
Where the provider of political advertising services becomes aware that any information transmitted to or published by the political advertising publisher is incomplete or inaccurate, it shall contact, without undue delay, the political advertising publisher concerned and shall transmit completed or corrected information to that political advertising publisher.
Where the political advertising publisher becomes aware by any means that the information referred to in Article 11(1) and paragraph 1 of this Article is incomplete or inaccurate, it shall make best efforts, including by contacting the sponsor or the providers of political advertising services, to complete or correct the information without undue delay.
Where the information cannot be completed or corrected without undue delay, the political advertising publisher shall not make the political advertisement available or shall without undue delay discontinue the publication, delivery or dissemination of the political advertisement.
The political advertising publisher shall without undue delay inform the sponsors or the providers of political advertising services concerned about any decisions under the fifth subparagraph of this paragraph.
3. Transparency notices shall be included in each political advertisement or be easily retrievable at all times during the period of publication of the political advertisement.
Transparency notices shall be kept up-to-date during the entire period of publication of the political advertisement, presented in a format which is easily accessible and, at least when the political advertisement is made available electronically, available in a machine-readable format. They shall be written in the language of the political advertisement. Political advertising publishers who offer services in the Union shall ensure that transparency notices comply with applicable accessibility requirements, including, when technically feasible, by making the information available via more than one sensory channel.
Transparency notices shall be clearly visible and user friendly, including through the use of plain language.
4. Political advertising publishers shall retain their transparency notices together with any modifications thereto for a period of seven years after the last publication of the political advertisement concerned.
5. Paragraph 4 of this Article shall not apply to micro-undertakings qualifying under Article 3(1) of Directive 2013/34/EU, provided that the provision of advertising services is purely marginal and ancillary to their main activities.
6. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 28 to amend this Regulation by adding points to the list of points in paragraph 1 of this Article and by modifying paragraph 1, point (f), of this Article in the light of technological developments, market practices, relevant scientific research, developments in supervision by competent authorities and relevant guidance issued by competent bodies, provided that such an amendment is necessary for the wider context of the political advertisement and its aims to be understood.
7. By 10 July 2025, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts to establish the format of and provide technical specifications for the transparency notice to ensure that it is adapted to the medium used, including for audiovisual and printed media as well as online and offline advertising, taking into account the latest technological and market developments, relevant scientific research and best practices and the specific needs of micro, small and medium-sized undertakings qualifying under Article 3 (1), (2) and (3) of Directive 2013/34/EU.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 29(2).
European repository for online political advertisements
1. The Commission shall establish and ensure, directly or by entrusting this responsibility to a management authority, the management of a European repository for online political advertisements (the ‘European repository’) which is a public repository for all online political advertisements published in the Union or directed to Union citizens or residents in the Union. That repository shall include:
(a)
a functionality enabling public access to online political advertisements, together with the information provided by political advertising publishers referred to in Article 12(1) in respect of each online political advertisement from the moment of its first publication; the information shall be available in machine-readable format, shall allow for multicriteria queries and shall be publicly accessible via a single portal;
(b)
a hosting service that ensures the availability of online political advertising and the information published with it referred to in Article 12(1), for the entire period during which the political advertisement is presented and for seven years after the political advertisement was last presented; that hosting service, and access to the information hosted, shall respect and be without prejudice to any legal requirement for the removal of the political advertisement and of the information published with it; that hosting service shall be free of charge for the political advertising publishers that submit an online political advertisement to the European repository.
2. Political advertising publishers that are very large online platforms and very large online search engines shall ensure that each political advertisement, together with the information referred to in Article 12(1) of this Regulation, is made available in a repository, as referred to in Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065. In addition, those political advertising publishers shall enable access to that information through the European repository from the moment of publication and for the entire period during which they present the political advertisement and for seven years after the political advertisement was last presented on their online interfaces.
3. Where political advertising publishers remove or disable access to a specific political advertisement on the basis of an alleged illegality or of an incompatibility with their terms and conditions, they shall continue to provide access to the information required by Article 12(1) of this Regulation for the period referred to in Article 9(3) of this Regulation. This requirement is without prejudice to the requirements laid down in Article 9(2), point (a)(i), Article 17(3), points (a) to (e), and Article 39(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065.
4. Political advertising publishers other than those referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article that publish political advertisements through an online service shall make each such political advertisement and the information required under Article 12(1) available in the European repository no later than 72 hours after the first publication of the political advertisement.
5. The Commission, or, as the case may be, the management authority referred to in paragraph 1, shall have no liability for the completeness and accuracy of the political advertising and the information published with it or its compliance with relevant Union or national law, and other applicable binding rules.
6. By 10 April 2026, the Commission shall adopt implementing acts in accordance with Article 29 to set out detailed arrangements for the provision of a common data structure, standardised metadata to facilitate the inclusion of political advertisements in the European repository and the indexation of political advertising by online search engines, standardised authentication, and a common application programming interface, with a view to enabling the aggregation of the information published online pursuant to this Regulation to be accessed through a single portal.
When adopting those implementing acts, the Commission shall take into account technological, market, and scientific developments, and shall aim to achieve the following objectives:
(a)
to enable the information referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 to be publicly accessed via the European repository;
(b)
to allow easy public access to online transparency notices through the use of a common application programming interface that would enable the notices to be accessed and the relevant databases to be queried;
(c)
to support third-party and public access to transparency notices, including by enabling analysis of online transparency notices and their presentation through a user-friendly single portal and search services.
Periodic reporting on political advertising services
1. Political advertising publishers shall include information on the amounts or the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for the services provided, including on the use of targeting techniques and ad-delivery techniques, aggregated by campaign, attached to their management report within the meaning of Article 19 of Directive 2013/34/EU.
Political advertising publishers shall make the information referred to in the first subparagraph available to the competent authorities responsible for the auditing or supervision of political actors, where such authorities are established under national law.
2. Paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to micro, small or medium-sized undertakings qualifying under Article 3(1), (2) and (3) of Directive 2013/34/EU.
Indicating possibly non-compliant political advertisements
1. Political advertising publishers shall have in place the necessary mechanisms to enable natural or legal persons to notify them if a particular political advertisement that they have published does not comply with this Regulation.
2. The mechanisms referred to in paragraph 1 shall be free of charge, user-friendly, and easy to access, including from the transparency notice. Where technically possible, those mechanisms shall allow notifications to be made in electronic form.
3. Those mechanisms shall facilitate the submission of precise and substantiated notifications to political advertising publishers to enable them to identify the non-compliance of the political advertisements in question with this Regulation. To that end, political advertising publishers shall take the necessary measures to enable and facilitate the submission of notifications containing all of the following elements:
(a)
a substantiated explanation of the reasons why the natural or legal person submitting the notification alleges that the political advertisement in question does not comply with this Regulation;
(b)
information enabling the identification of the political advertisement;
(c)
the name and email address of the natural or legal person submitting the notification.
4. Political advertising publishers shall without undue delay send a confirmation of receipt of the notification received pursuant to paragraph 1 to the natural or legal person who submitted it.
5. Political advertising publishers which are very large online platforms and very large online search engines shall without undue delay:
(a)
examine and address the notifications received pursuant to paragraph 1 in a diligent, non-arbitrary and objective manner;
(b)
inform the natural or legal person which made the notification referred to in paragraph 1 of the follow-up given to it.
6. Political advertising publishers that are not very large online platforms and very large online search engines shall without undue delay:
(a)
make best efforts to examine and address the notifications received pursuant to paragraph 1, in a diligent, non-arbitrary and objective manner;
(b)
inform, at least upon request, the natural or legal persons which made the notification referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article of the follow-up given to it; political advertising publishers qualifying as micro-undertakings under Article 3(1) of Directive 2013/34/EU shall make best efforts to ensure their compliance with this point.
7. In the last month preceding an election or a referendum, political advertising publishers shall process any notification they receive about a political advertisement linked to that election or referendum within 48 hours provided that the notification can be processed completely on the basis of the information included in the notification. Political advertising publishers qualifying as micro, small or medium-sized undertakings under Article 3(1), (2) and (3) of Directive 2013/34/EU shall make best efforts to process any notification that they receive about a political advertisement linked to that election or referendum without undue delay.
8. Political advertising publishers shall provide clear and user-friendly information on the possibilities for redress in respect of the political advertisement to which the notification relates and, where applicable, on the use of automated means for the processing of notifications.
9. Political advertising publishers shall without undue delay inform the sponsors or providers of political advertising services concerned of any measures they take following notifications made under this Article, that affect the availability or the presentation of the political advertisement concerned.
10. Political advertising publishers may respond to multiple notifications under paragraph 1 regarding the same advertisement or advertising campaign collectively, including by making use of automated tools or by making an announcement on their website referring to the notifications concerned.
11. The Commission, after consulting the network of national contact points referred to in Article 22(8), may issue guidelines to assist political advertising publishers in the application of this Article.
Transmission of information to national competent authorities
1. To verify compliance with Articles 9, 11, 12 and 14, national competent authorities shall have the power to request that providers of political advertising services transmit any necessary information. The transmitted information shall be complete, accurate and trustworthy, and shall be provided in a clear, coherent, consolidated and intelligible format. Where technically possible, the information shall be transmitted in a standardised and machine-readable format.
2. The request referred to in paragraph 1 shall contain the following elements:
(a)
a statement of reasons explaining the objective for which the information is requested, unless the request pursues the objective of the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of criminal offences or serious administrative offences and unless disclosing the reasons for the request would jeopardise that objective;
(b)
information on the redress available to the relevant provider of political advertising services and to the sponsor of the political advertising service.
3. Upon receipt of a request pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article, providers of political advertising services shall, within two working days, acknowledge receipt of that request and inform the national competent authority of the steps taken to comply with it. The relevant provider of political advertising services shall provide the requested information within eight working days. However, providers of political advertising services qualifying as micro, small or medium-sized undertakings under Article 3(1), (2) and (3) of Directive 2013/34/EU shall make reasonable efforts to provide the requested information within 12 working days and thereafter, without undue delay.
4. By derogation from paragraph 3 of this Article, in the last month preceding an election or a referendum, providers of political advertising services shall provide the requested information that is in their possession without undue delay and no later than 48 hours. However, providers of political advertising services qualifying as micro or small undertakings under Article 3(1) and (2) of Directive 2013/34/EU shall provide the requested information that is in their possession without undue delay and where possible before the date of the election or referendum.
5. Providers of political advertising services shall designate a contact point for the interaction with competent national authorities. Providers of political advertising services qualifying as micro, small or medium-sized undertakings under Article 3(1), (2) and (3) of Directive 2013/34/EU may appoint an external natural person as contact point.
Transmission of information to other interested entities
1. At the request of interested entities, providers of political advertising services shall transmit promptly and free of charge, and where technically possible in a machine-readable format, to those entities the information that those providers of political advertising services are required to have pursuant to Articles 9, 11 and 12.
2. Interested entities requesting the transmission of information pursuant to paragraph 1 shall be independent from commercial interests and shall fall in one or more of the following categories:
(a)
vetted researchers in accordance with Article 40(8) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065;
(b)
members of a civil society organisation whose statutory objectives are to protect and promote the public interest, authorised under national or Union law;
(c)
political actors;
(d)
national or international electoral observers recognised in a Member State; or
(e)
journalists.
3. Following a request from an interested entity, the provider of political advertising services shall make best efforts to provide the requested information or a reasoned response under paragraph 5 as soon as possible and, at the latest, within one month.
4. When preparing the information to be provided pursuant to paragraph 1, the provider of political advertising services may aggregate the relevant amounts or place them in a range, to the extent necessary to protect its commercial legitimate interests.
5. Where requests pursuant to paragraph 1 are manifestly unclear, excessive or concern information not within the possession of the provider of political advertising services, that provider may refuse to provide the requested information. In such cases, the provider of political advertising services shall send a reasoned response to the interested entity making the request along with information on the possibilities for redress, including, where applicable, those that exist under Directive (EU) 2020/1828.
6. Where the processing of the requests pursuant to paragraph 1 entails significant costs, the provider of political advertising services may charge a reasonable and proportionate fee, which in any event shall not exceed the administrative costs of providing the information requested.
7. Providers of political advertising services shall bear the burden of demonstrating that a request is manifestly unclear, excessive or concerns information not in their possession, or that requests entail significant processing costs.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
