143 Amendments of Alexandra GEESE related to 2021/0381(COD)
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) The supply of and demand for political advertising are growing and increasingly cross-border in nature. A large, diversified and increasing number of services are associated with that activity, such as political consultancies, advertising agencies, “ad-tech” platforms, public relations firms, influencers and various data analytics and brokerage operators. Political advertising can take many forms including paid content, sponsored search results, paid targeted messages, promotion in rankings, promotion of something or someone integrated into content such as product placement, influencers and other endorsements. Related activities can involve for instance the dissemination of political advertising upon request of a sponsor or the publication of content against payment or equivalent remuneration.
Amendment 144 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Political advertising can be disseminated or published through various means and media across borders. I both online and offline. It is rapidly increasing as it can be disseminated or published via traditional offline media such as newspapers, television and radio, and also increasingly via online platforms, websites, mobile applications, computer games and other digital interfaces. The latter are not only particularly prone to be offered cross- border, but also raise novel and difficult regulatory and enforcement challenges. The use of online political advertising is strongly increasing, and certain linear offline forms of political advertising, such as radio and television, are also offered online as on-demand services. Political advertising campaigns tend to be organised to make use of a range of media and forms.
Amendment 147 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) The need to ensure transparency is a legitimate public goal, in conformity with the values shared by the EU and its Member States pursuant to Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (‘TEU’). It is not always easy for citizens to recognise political advertisements and exercise their democratic rights in an informed manner. A high level of transparency is necessary, among others, to support an open and fair political debate and free and fair elections or referendums and to combat disinformation and unlawful interference including from abroad. Political advertising can be a vector of disinformation in particular where the advertising does not disclose its political nature, andor where it is targeted. Transparency of political advertising contributes to enabling voters and individuals in general to better understand when they are being presented with a political advertisement on whose behalf that advertisement is being made, and hows well as how and why they are being targeted by an advertising service provider, so that voters are better placed to make informed choices.
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) In the context of political advertising, targeting, ad delivery and amplification techniques are frequently used. Targeting or amplification techniques should be understood as techniques that are used either to address, disseminate or present a tailored political advertisement only to a specific person or group of persons or to increase the circulation, reach or visibility of a political advertisement. Ad delivery techniques should be understood as techniques that are used to determine the dissemination or delivery of a political advertisement to a specific person or group of persons within the targeted group, generally defined by sponsors or providers of political advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors. Amplification techniques should be understood as fully or partially automated techniques that are used to suggest or prioritise a political advertisement to increase its circulation, reach or visibility. Given the power and the potential for the misuse of personal data of targeting, including through microtargeting and other advanced techniques, such techniques may present particular threats to legitimate public interests, such as democratic principles, fairness, equal opportunities and transparency in the electoral process and the fundamental rights to be informed in an objective, transparent and pluralistic way, to data protection, a private life and to non-discrimination. Targeting, delivery and amplification techniques which are incompatible with fundamental rights should be prohibited.
Amendment 158 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Political advertising is currently regulated heterogeneously in the Member States, which in many cases tends to focus on traditional media forms. Specific restrictions exist including on cross-border provisions of political advertising services. Some Member States prohibit EU service providers established in other Member States from providing services of a political nature or with a political purpose during electoral periods. At the same time, gaps and loopholes in national legislation are likely to exist in some Member States resulting in political advertising sometimes being disseminated without regard to relevant national rules and thus risking undermining the objective of transparency regulation for political advertising. Therefore, advertisement campaigns that are carried out outside of official electoral periods of a Member State may also be considered as political advertisment for the purpose of this Regulation.
Amendment 167 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) Full harmonisation of the transparency requirements should be without prejudice to the freedom of providers of political advertising services to provide on a voluntary basis further information on political advertising, as part of the freedom of expression protected under Article 11 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The Regulation should provide for harmonised transparency requirement applicable to economic actors providing political advertising and related services (i.e. activities that are normally provided for remuneration); those services consist in particular of the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery, and dissemination of political advertising. The rules of this Regulation that provide for a high level of transparency of political advertising services are based on Article 114 of the TFEU. This Regulation should also address the use of targeting and amplification techniques in the context of the publication, dissemination, delivery, or promotion of political advertising that involve the processing of personal data. The rules of this Regulation that address the use of targeting and amplification are based on Article 16 of the TFEU. Political advertising directed to individuals in a Member State should include advertising entirely prepared, placed or published by service providers established outside the Union but disseminated to individuals in the Union. To determine whether a political advertisement is directed to individuals in a Member State, account should be taken of factors linking it to that Member State, including language, context, objective of the advertisement and its means of dissemination.
Amendment 177 #
(16) The definition of political advertising should include advertising publishrepared, published, delivered or disseminated directly or indirectly by or published, delivered or disseminated directly or indirectly for or on behalf of a political actor. Since advertisements by, for or on behalf of a political actor cannot be detached from their activity in their role as political actor, they can be presumed to be liablekely to influence the political debate, except for messages of purely private or purely commercial nature.
Amendment 182 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) The publication, delivery or dissemination by other actors of a message that is liablekely to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, legislative or regulatory process or voting behaviour should also constitute political advertising. In order to determine whether the publication or dissemination of a message is liablekely to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, a legislative or regulatory process, or voting behaviour, account should be taken of all relevant factors such as the content of the message, the language used to convey the message, the context in which the message is conveyed, the objective of the message and the means by which the message is published or disseminated. Messages on societal or controversial issues may, as the case may be, be liablekely to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, a legislative or regulatory process, or voting behaviour.
Amendment 190 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 19
Recital 19
(19) Political views expressed or disseminated in the programmes of audiovisual linear broadcasts or published in printed media without direct payment or equivalent remuneration should not be covered by this Regulation.
Amendment 192 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
Amendment 196 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) The concept of political actors should also include unelected officials, elected officials, candidates and members of Government at European, national, regional or local level. Other political organisations such as lobbying organisations and think tanks should also be included in that definition.
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 24
Recital 24
(24) An advertising campaign should refer to the preparation, publication and dissemination of a series of linked advertisements in the course of a contract for political advertising, 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.
Amendment 199 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
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.
Amendment 200 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
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.
Amendment 203 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) Once an advertisement is indicated as being connected to political advertising, 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 advertisement, its further dissemination should still comply with transparency requirements. For instance, when sponsored content is shared organically, the advertising should still be labelled as political advertising.
Amendment 205 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 29
Recital 29
(29) The rules on transparency 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, delivery, or dissemination for the specific message, unless the user has been remunerated by a third party for the political advertisement.
Amendment 206 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 30
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. The transparency requirement should apply however, when making available information to a potentially unlimited number of persons, that is, making the information easily accessible to users in general without further action by the individual or entity providing the information being required, irrespective of whether those persons actually access the information in question. Accordingly, where access to information requires registration or admittance to a group of users, the transparency requirements only apply where users seeking to access the information are automatically registered or admitted without a human decision on whom to grant access.
Amendment 211 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 32
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, including as regards risk assessment and mitigation obligations for very large online platforms as regards their advertising systems. To assist Member States and service providers, the Commission should provide guidelines on how to interpret the interaction between and complementary nature of different Union legal acts and this Regulation and how to prevent any duplication of requirements on providers or potential conflicts in the interpretation of similar requirements.
Amendment 214 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 33
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 criteria, the provision of data used for the targeting of an advertisement, the provisions of targeting 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.
Amendment 216 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 34
Recital 34
(34) In view of the importance of guaranteeing in particular the effectiveness of the transparency 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 provided to the political advertising publisher which bringdisseminates 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 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.
Amendment 217 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 36
Recital 36
(36) Steps could also include advertising publishers providing an efficient mechanism for individuals to indicate that a political advertisement is political, andpermitting them to takinge effective action in response to such indications.
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 38
Recital 38
(38) Transparency of political advertising should enable citizenindividuals to understand that they are confronted with a political advertisement. Political advertising publishers should ensure the publication in connection to each political advertisement of a clear statement to the effect that it is a political advertisement, the amount of money spend in total on the political advertisement campaign and of the identity of its sponsor. Where appropriate, the name of the sponsor cshould include a political logo. Political advertising publishers should make use of labelling which is effectiveIn order to ensure harmonised and effective labelling, the Commission should be empowered to supplement the provisions of this Regulation by adopting delegated acts laying down the standards for labelling, taking into account developments in relevant scientific research and best practice on the provision of transparency through the labelling of advertisement. Political advertising publishers should make use of such labelling. They should also ensure the publication in connection to each political advertisement of information to enable the wider context of the political advertisement and its aims to be understood, which can either be included in the advertisement itself, or be provided by the publisher on its website, accessible through a direct, permanent and clearly visible link or equivalent clear and user- friendly direction included in the advertisement.
Amendment 223 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 39
Recital 39
(39) This information should be provided in a transparency notice which should also include the identity of the sponsor, in order to support accountability in the political process. The transparency notice should be available immediately when the advertising is published or disseminated, and the information it presents should be updated regularly, as relevant. The place of establishment of the sponsor and whether the sponsor is a natural or legal person, and whether it is a commercial or not-for-profit entity, 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 number of interactions with the political advertisement from public pages, public groups, or public figures, including the number of impressions and engagements, such as the number of reactions, shares or comments, 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. When using targeting or amplification techniques in the context of political advertising involving the processing of personal data, the transparency notice shall include additional information. Such transparency information should include at least the criteria for determining the presentation of an advertisement to individuals, including where information is based on their online behaviour. The transparency notice should further include clear and concise information on how to flag political advertisements in accordance with the procedure established in this Regulation. This requirement should be without prejudice to provisions on notification according to Articles 14, 156 and 197 of Regulation (EU) 2021/XXX [Digital Services Act].
Amendment 228 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 40
Recital 40
(40) The information to be included in the transparency notice should be provided in the advertisement itself or be easily, permanently and directly retrievable on the basis of an indication provided in the advertisement. The requirement that the information about the transparency notice is to be inter alia clearly visible should entail that it features prominently in or withattached to 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 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.
Amendment 229 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 41
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 oneseven years 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 why.
Amendment 231 #
(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. Political advertising publishers should not make available to the public those political advertisements not fulfilling the transparency requirements under this Regulation. In addition, political advertising publishers which are very large online platforms within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2021/XXX [Digital Services Act] should make the information contained in the transparency notice available through the repositories of advertisements published pursuant to Article 309 Regulation [Digital Services Act] . This will 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 , the mode of delivery, placement and dissemination of the advertisement and analysing the political advertisement landscape.
Amendment 235 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 43
Recital 43
(43) Where the provider of the political advertising service which hosts or otherwise stores and provides the content of a political advertisement is separate from the provider of the political advertising service which controls the website or other interface which eventually displaypresents the political advertisement, these should both be considered together as advertising publishers, with respective responsibility in respect of the specific service they provide, to ensure that labelling is provided and that the transparency notice and relevant information is availableall applicable obligations are fulfilled. Similarly, where the political advertising publisher which presents or disseminates a political advertisement is different from the political advertising publisher which controls the website or other interface to which the political advertisement is delivered, such as is the case with ad exchanges and demand-side platforms cooperating with news websites or online platforms, these should both be considered as publishers of political advertising, with respective responsibility in respect of the specific service they provide, to ensure that all applicable obligations are fulfilled. Their contractual arrangements should reflect the way they organise compliance with this Regulation.
Amendment 238 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 44
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 at least information about expenditure on the targeting and 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(31) and 3(2) of Directive 2013/34/EU.
Amendment 240 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 45
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 directly and permanently accessible from the advertisement itself, from the label and from the transparency notice, 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 146 of the Digital Services Act continue to apply for notifications concerning non-compliance of such advertisements with this Regulation.
Amendment 242 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46
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 unfounded or excessiveunclear. 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.
Amendment 243 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46 a (new)
Recital 46 a (new)
(46 a) Given the context of political advertisement and its impact on democratic processes, it requires further public accountability and regulatory supervision to enable individuals to make informed political decisions free from interference or manipulation. A European advertisement repository is therefore established to ensure public access to advertisements presented on online interfaces of all political advertisement publishers to facilitate supervision and research into emerging risks brought about by the distribution of advertising online, for example in relation to illegal advertisements or manipulative techniques and disinformation with a real and foreseeable negative impact on public security, civil discourse, political participation, equality and free and fair elections or referendums. The repository should include the information contained in the transparency notice, using the data fields of Annex I and Annex IIa(new). This information should include both information about targeting criteria and delivery criteria.). The European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services should be in possession of all the necessary resources, in terms of staffing, expertise, and financial means, for the establishment and maintenance of the European advertisement repository. It should establish, in collaboration with the Commission, the industry and independent experts, technical standards for APIs for the automatic transmission of the information contained in transparency notices to the repository.
Amendment 244 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 46 b (new)
Recital 46 b (new)
(46 b) In order to ensure verification by independent experts to support an open and fair political debate and free and fair elections or referendums and to combat disinformation and unlawful interference including from abroad, political advertising publishers which are very large online platforms or very large online search engines within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2021/XXX[Digital Services Act] should be accountable, through independent auditing, for their compliance with the obligations laid down by this Regulation. Regulation (EU) 2022/xxx [the DSA] should apply to the process, the characteristics of the organisations performing the audit, the structure of the report and the implementation of the recommendations contained therein. In order to ensure that independent audits are carried out in an effective and efficient manner, they should at least be performed on compliance with the obligations set out in Chapter II and III of this Regulation, and in particular the accuracy of the identification and labelling of political advertisements in accordance with Article 5, the completeness, methodology and consistency of the record-keeping obligations as set out in Article 6, the accuracy and completeness of transparency notices in accordance with Article 7, the completeness, methodology and consistency of the periodic reporting obligations in accordance with Article 8, and the accuracy and completeness of the information transmitted to the European Political Advertisement Repository in accordance with Article 11a (new). Audits should be performed at least on an annual basis. However, where a competent authority has reasons to suspect that a provider infringed this Regulation, it may request an additional audit on specific elements.
Amendment 245 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 48 a (new)
Recital 48 a (new)
(48 a) A core part of political advertisement publishers’ business is the manner in which information is prioritised and presented on their online interface. This is done, for example, by algorithmically suggesting, ranking and prioritising information, distinguishing through text or other visual representations, or otherwise curating information provided by sponsors or political advertisement services. Such recommender systems play an important role in the amplification of certain messages, the dissemination of political advertisements and the stimulation of online behaviour. They can also contribute to significant risks, ranging from the recommendation of advertisements that are themselves illegal content, to contributing to financial incentives for the publication or amplification of otherwise harmful content and activities online, such as the spread of disinformation, or the discriminatory presentation of advertising with an impact on voting behaviour. Consequently, the amplification of political advertising, based on fully or partially automated techniques that are used to suggest or prioritise a political advertisement to increase its circulation, reach or visibility, should be prohibited.
Amendment 246 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 49
Recital 49
Amendment 249 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 50
Recital 50
(50) Political advertising publishers making use of targeting or amplification techniques should include in their transparency notice information necessary to allow the concerned individual to understand the logic involved and mainall parameters of the technique used, and the use of third-party data and additional analytical techniques used and a link to thdirect and permanent link and clear indication of where relevant policy of the controller can be easily retrieved. In case the controller is different from the advertising publisher the controller should transmit to political advertising publisher the internal policy or a reference to it. Providers of advertising services should, as necessary, transmit to the political advertising publisher the information necessary to comply with their obligations under this Regulation. The provision of such information could be automated and integrated in the ordinary business processes on the basis of standards.
Amendment 250 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 51
Recital 51
(51) In order to further empower individuals to exercise their data protection rights, political advertising publishers should provide additional information and effective tools to the concerned data subject to support the exercise of their rights under the EU data protection legal framework including to object or withdraw their consent vis-a-vis the controller as well as third party controllers, when targeted with a political advertisement. This information should also be easily accessible directly from the transparency notice. The tools made available to the individuals to support the exercise of their rights should be effective to prevent an individual from being targeted with political advertisements, as well as to prevent targeting on the basis of specific criteria and by one or several specificmore than one controllers.
Amendment 251 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 53
Recital 53
(53) Information to be provided in accordance with all requirements applicable to the use of targeting and amplification techniques under this Regulation should be presented in a format which is easily accessible, complete, clearly visible and user-friendly, including through the use of plain language.
Amendment 253 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 54
Recital 54
(54) It is appropriate to lay down rules on the transmission of information on targeting and amplification to other interested entities. The applicable regime should be consistent with the regime for the transmission of information linked to the transparency requirements.
Amendment 258 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 60
Recital 60
(60) The European Coordination Network for Political Advertisement should facilitate cross-border cooperation and the swift and secured exchange of information for contact points established in accordance with this Regulation. Authorities competent for the oversight of this Regulation should cooperate with each other both at national and at EU level making best use of existing structures including national cooperation networks, the European Cooperrdination Network on Elections as referred to in Recommendation C(2018) 5949 final, and the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services established under Directive 2010/13/EU. Such cooperation should facilitate the swift, 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.
Amendment 259 #
(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 , for VLOPs within two working days upon receipt of the measure. During the last month of the electoral campaign or a referendum, infringement of the provisions of this Regulation should be considered to negatively and severely affect individuals’ rights. Therefore political advertising services should provide the requested information within 24 hours. . 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 of political advertising services should designate contact points for the interaction with the competent authorities. Such contact points could be electronic.
Amendment 261 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 62
Recital 62
(62) In order to ensure a consistent application of this Regulation, it is necessary to set up an independent European Coordination Network at Union level, which should support and help coordinate the actions of competent authorities. Member States should designate a contact point at Union level for the purpose of this Regulation. The contact point ishould, if possible, be a member of the European Cooperation Network on Elections, without prejudice to the possibility for the contact points to invite in its meetings or appoint ad hoc delegates from other competent authorities entrusted with specific tasks under this Regulation. The contact point should facilitate cooperation among competent authorities between Member States in their supervision and enforcement tasks, in particular by intermediating with the contact points in other Member States and with the competent authorities in their own. Moreover, when a competent authority in a Member State holds relevant information for an investigation carried out by the competent authorities in the Member State of establishment, or is able to gather such information located in its territory to which the competent authorities in the Member State of establishment do not have access, the competent authority in that Member State should assist the contact point of establishment in a timely manner, including through the exercise of its powers of investigation in accordance with the applicable national procedures and the Charter. The addressee of such investigatory measures should comply with them and be liable in case of failure to comply, and the competent authorities in the Member State of establishment should be able to rely on the information gathered through mutual assistance, in order to ensure compliance with this Regulation.
Amendment 266 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. This Regulation lays down harmonised rules on:
Amendment 270 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) harmonised transparency and due diligence obligations for providers of political advertising and related services to retain, disclose and publish information connected to the provision of such services;
Amendment 273 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) harmonised rules on the use of targeting, delivery, and amplification techniques in the context of the publication, dissemination or promotion of political advertising that involve the useprocessing of personal data.
Amendment 275 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(b a) the implementation and enforcement of this Regulation, including as regards the cooperation of and coordination between the competent authorities.
Amendment 280 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 2
Article 1 – paragraph 2
2. This Regulation shall apply to political advertising prepared, placed, promoted, published, delivered or disseminated in the Union, or directed to individuals in one or several Member States, irrespective of the place of establishment of the advertising services provider, and irrespective of the means used.
Amendment 284 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 1 – paragraph 3 – point b
(b) to protect natural personseffectively protect fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter, in particular with regard to the processing of personal data.
Amendment 287 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 4 – point g a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 4 – point g a (new)
(g a) Regulation 2016/679/EU ;
Amendment 288 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 4 – point g b (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 4 – point g b (new)
(g b) Regulation 2018/1725/EU;
Amendment 301 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – introductory part
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – introductory part
2. ‘political advertising’ means the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery or dissemination, by any means, of a message:
Amendment 309 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point b
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point b
(b) which is liablekely to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, a legislative or regulatory process or voting behaviour.
Amendment 311 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 2 a (new)
2 a. Content under the editorial responsibility of audiovisual media service providers pursuant to Art. 1(1)(d)of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (Directive 2010/13/EU) without direct payment or equivalent remuneration shall not be covered by the term political advertising when it is prepared, placed, promoted, published, delivered or disseminated without any form of payment or equivalent remuneration from a third party.
Amendment 320 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 – point g
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 – point g
(g) a political campaign organisation with or without legal personality, established to achieve a specific policy or electoral outcome in an election or referendum or legislative or regulatory process;
Amendment 323 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 – point h
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 – point h
(h) any natural or legal person representing or acting on behalf of any of the persons or organisations in points (a) to (g), promoting the political objectives or interests of any of those.
Amendment 325 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5
5. ‘political advertising service’ means a service consisting of political advertising with the exception of an online intermediary service within the meaning of Article 2(f3(g) of Regulation (EU) 2021/XXX [Digital Services Act] that is provided without consideration for the placement, publication or dissemination for the specific message;
Amendment 326 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6
6. ‘political advertising campaign’ means the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery, or dissemination of a series of linked advertisements in the course of a contract for political advertising, on the basis of common preparation, sponsorship or funding;
Amendment 333 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8
8. ‘targeting or amplification techniques’ means techniques that are used either to address a tailored, disseminate or present a political advertisement only to a specific person or group of persons or to increase the circulation, reach or visibility of a political advertisement;
Amendment 337 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 a (new)
8 a. ‘ad delivery techniques’ means techniques that are used to determine the dissemination or delivery of a political advertisement to a specific person or group of persons within the potential audience defined by the sponsors or providers of advertising services, on behalf of sponsors;
Amendment 338 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 b (new)
8 b. 'amplification techniques’ means fully or partially automated techniques that are used to suggest or prioritise a political advertisement to increase its circulation, reach or visibility;
Amendment 342 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 11
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 11
11. ‘political advertising publisher’ means a natural or legal person that broadcasts, makes available through an interface or otherwise brings to the public domaindisseminates, places, promotes, publishes or delivers political advertising through any medium;
Amendment 346 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 12 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 12 a (new)
12 a. ‘legislative or regulatory process’ means any national, regional or local government or regulatory authority procedure in which decisions, legislation or rules are proposed, discussed or adopted by any of the political actors referred to in paragraph 3.
Amendment 376 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Providers of advertising services shall design and organise their online interface in a way that enables sponsors and providers of advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors to comply with their obligations as referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and Article 6(1).
Amendment 377 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 b (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Providers of advertising services shall make best efforts to assess whether sponsors and providers of advertising services acting on behalf of sponsors have declared the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and Article 6(1) prior to the provision of the service.
Amendment 378 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 2 c (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 2 c (new)
2 c. Political advertising publishers, which are very large online platforms within the meaning of Article 25 of Regulation (EU)2021/xxx [the DSA], shall implement adequate quality controls to ensure the timely identification of advertisements which have not been declared in accordance with paragraph 1 or which have been misdeclared or mislabelled and disseminated on their platform.
Amendment 381 #
1. Providers of political advertising services shall retainkeep information they collect in the provision of their services, on the following:
Amendment 382 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(b a) the period during which the specific service or services were provided;
Amendment 383 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
(b b) where applicable, impression and engagement data;
Amendment 388 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) where applicable, the identity of the sponsor and its contact details as well as the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor.
Amendment 391 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 2
2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be in writing and may be in electronic form. Such information shall be retainedkept in a machine-readable format for a period of fiseven years from the date of the last preparation, placement, publication, delivery, or dissemination, as the case may be.
Amendment 397 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – title
Article 7 – title
Transparency and labelling requirements for each political advertisement
Amendment 399 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. In the context of the provisionPublishers of political advertising services, each political advertisement shall be made available with the following information shall make the following information available for each advertisement in real time, in a machine- readable format as well as in a clear, salient, accessible and unambiguous way:
Amendment 407 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) a transparency notice to enable the wider context of the political advertisement and its aims to be understoodcontaining the information referred to in paragraph 2 , or a clear indication of where it can be easily and permanently retrieved.
Amendment 408 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(c a) the specific electoral or policy goal of the advertisement, the corresponding elections or referendums, or the legislative or regulatory process with which the advertisement is linked or aims to influence.
Amendment 412 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 415 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
2. The transparency notice shall be included in each political advertisement or be easidirectly and permanently retrievable from ithe label, and shall include the following information:
Amendment 416 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) the identity of the sponsor or the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor and contact details;
Amendment 425 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point d
(d) where applicable, an indication of elections or referendums, or the legislative or regulatory process with which the advertisement is linked;
Amendment 431 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point e a (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point e a (new)
(e a) where applicable, links to aggregate information on all advertisements that have been placed, promoted, published or disseminated on behalf of the same sponsor or political actor;
Amendment 433 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point e b (new)
Article 7 – paragraph 2 – point e b (new)
(e b) where applicable, aggregate information on interactions, engagements and impressions.
Amendment 442 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 3
Article 7 – paragraph 3
3. Political advertising publishers shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the information referred to in paragraph 1 and 2 is complete, and where they findhave sufficient indications or reasons to believe that this is not the case, they shall not make available the political advertisement.
Amendment 451 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 4
Article 7 – paragraph 4
4. Transparency notices shall be kept up to date and presented in a format which is easily accessible and, where technically pos, comprehensible, and machine readable, clearly visible and user friendly, including through the use of plain language. The information shall be published by the political advertising publisher with the political advertisement from its first publication until oneseven years after its last publication.
Amendment 457 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 5
Article 7 – paragraph 5
5. Political advertising publishers shall retainkeep their transparency notices together with any modifications available for a period of five15 years after the end of the period referred to in paragraph 4.
Amendment 460 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 6
Article 7 – paragraph 6
Amendment 467 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 7
Article 7 – paragraph 7
7. Member States, including competent authorities, and the Commission shall encourage the drawing up of codes of conduct By ... [date 6 months after the entry into force of this Regulation], the Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 19,intended to contribute to the proper application of this Article, in particular with regard to paragraph 2,taking into account the specific characteristics of the relevant service providers involved and the specific needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive 2013/34/EU.
Amendment 471 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 8
Article 7 – paragraph 8
8. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 19 to amend Annex I by adding, modifying or removing elements from the list of information to be provided pursuant to paragraph 2 where, in the light of technological developments, such an amendment is necessary for the wider context of the political advertisement and its aims to be understood.
Amendment 478 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1
1. Where they provide political advertising services, advertising publishers shall include information on the amounts or the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for those services, including on the use of targetingfor targeting, delivery and amplification techniques, aggregated by campaign, as part of their management report within the meaning of Article 19 of Directive 2013/34/EU in their annual financial statements.
Amendment 483 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 2
Article 8 – paragraph 2
2. Paragraph 1 shall not apply to undertakings qualifying under Article 3(31) of Directive 2013/34/EU.
Amendment 487 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 1
Article 9 – paragraph 1
1. Where they provide political advertising services, advertising publishers shall put in place electronic, accessible, and easy to use mechanisms to enable any individuals or entity to notify them, free of charge, that a particular advertisement which they have published does not comply with this Regulation. Such mechanisms should include clear and concise information on what constitutes a political advertisement, and should be clearly identifiable and located close to the information in question.
Amendment 495 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2
Article 9 – paragraph 2
2. Information on how to notify political advertisements as referred to in paragraph 1 shall be user friendly and easy todirectly and permanently access,ible including from the transparency notice and label.
Amendment 497 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Article 9 – paragraph 2 a (new)
Amendment 499 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 3
Article 9 – paragraph 3
3. Political advertising publishers shall allow for the submission of the informnotification referred to in paragraph 1 by electronic means. The political advertising publisher shall inform individualsany affected individuals or entities without undue delay of the follow up given to the notification as referred to in paragraph 1 and provide clear and user-friendly information on the redress possibilities available in respect of the advertisement to which the notice relates.
Amendment 519 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Competent national authorities shall have the power to request that a provider of political advertising services transmits the information referred to in Articles 6, 7 and 8. The transmitted information must be complete, accurate and trustworthy, and provided in a clear, coherent, consolidated and intelligible format. Where technically possible, tThe information shall be transmitted in a standardised and machine readable format.
Amendment 521 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) a statement of reasons explaining the objective for which the information is requested and why the request is necessary and proportionate, unless the request pursues the objective of the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences and to the extent that the reasons for the request would jeopardise that objective;
Amendment 528 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. Providers of political advertising services shall take the appropriate measures to transmit the information referred to in Articles 6 and 7 to interested entities promptly upon request and, without costs and in a machine readable format.
Amendment 530 #
Where the provider of political advertising services is a political advertising publisher, it shall also take the appropriate measures to transmit the information referred to in Articles 7 and 8 to interested entities upon request promptly and without costs and in a machine readable format.
Amendment 531 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) vetted researchers in accordance with Article 3140 of Regulation (EU) 2021/xxx [Digital Services Act];
Amendment 535 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 11 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Such interested entities shall also include journalists accredited in a Member State by national, European or international bodies.
Amendment 536 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 3
Article 11 – paragraph 3
3. Following a request from an interested entity, the service provider shall make best efforts to provide the requested information or its reasoned response under paragraph 5, within one month as soon as possible and, at the latest, within ten working days.
Amendment 540 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 4
Article 11 – paragraph 4
4. When preparing the information to be provided pursuant to paragraph 1, the service provider may aggregate the relevant amounts or place them in a range, to the extent strictly necessary to protect its commercial legitimate interests.
Amendment 542 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 5
Article 11 – paragraph 5
5. Where requests pursuant to paragraph 1 are manifestly unfounded, unclear or excessive, in particular because of their lack of claritytoo unclear, the service provider may refuse to respprovide the requested informationd. In this case, the relevant service provider shall send a reasoned response to the interested entity making the request.
Amendment 546 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 7
Article 11 – paragraph 7
7. Service providers shall bear the burden of demonstrating that a request is manifestly unfounded, unclear or excessive, or that requests are repetitive andunclear or involve significant costs to process.
Amendment 548 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 a (new)
Article 11 a (new)
Article 11 a European political advertisement repository 1. The European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) shall establish and maintain a European political advertisement repository to make publicly available, through a searchable, machine-readable and reliable tool that allows multicriteria queries, and through application programming interfaces, political advertisements published or disseminated until seven years after the advertisement was presented for the last time on an online interface of a publisher of political advertisement. 2. Political advertising publishers shall transmit a copy of each political advertisement including at least all of the information contained in the transparency notice referred to in Article 7(2) and Annex IIa (new) to the European political advertisement repository without delay and at the latest within 24 hours of the first publication of the political advertisement. They shall transmit all versions of the advertisement. 3. Where a political advertising publisher removed or disabled access to a specific advertisement based on alleged illegality or incompatibility with its terms and conditions, it shall notify the repository without undue delay. In that case, the repository shall not include the content of the advertisement nor the information referred to in Article 7(2)(a), but it shall include, for the specific advertisement concerned, the information referred to in, as applicable, Article 17(2) points(a) to (e) or Article 9(2) point (a)(i) of Regulation xxx [Digital Services Act]. 4. The ERGA shall ensure that the repository does not contain any personal data of individuals to whom the advertisement was or could have been presented. 5. The ERGA shall receive adequate and sufficient financial, human and technical resources to carry out its functions, including the establishment and the maintenance of the European political advertisement repository pursuant to Paragraph 1.
Amendment 550 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 b (new)
Article 11 b (new)
Amendment 551 #
Proposal for a regulation
Chapter III – title
Chapter III – title
III TARGETING AD DELIVERY AND AMPLIFICATION OF POLITICAL ADVERTISING
Amendment 555 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. The provisions in this Article shall not prevent the use of targeting techniques based on contextual information such as keywords, the language setting communicated by the device of the recipient, the broad physical location inferred from the user’s connection or the digital location where the advertisement is displayed.
Amendment 556 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 8 b (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 8 b (new)
8 b. Ad delivery techniques shall only be permitted based on the randomized selection of a specific person or group of persons for the purpose of disseminating or delivering a political advertisement.
Amendment 568 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 8 a (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 8 a (new)
8 a. Prices shall be non-discriminatory and based exclusively on the nature and size of the target group, including where amplification techniques are used.
Amendment 569 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 a (new)
Article 12 a (new)
Article 12 a 1. Publishers of political advertisement services shall only use amplification techniques for political advertising that are based on contextual information such as keywords, language context, or the approximate geographical region of individuals. 2. The use of the contextual information referred to in paragraph 1 shall only be permissible if the advertisement is presented in real time, that related data are not stored and that it does not involve the director, by means of combining it with other information, indirect identification of a natural person or group of persons, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, precise location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person or group of persons.
Amendment 574 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 1
1. Service providers that provideProviders of political advertising services in the Union but do not have an establishment in the Union shall designate, in writing, a natural or legal person to act as their legal representative in one of the Member States where the provider offers its services.
Amendment 575 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 2
Article 14 – paragraph 2
2. The legal representative shall be responsible for ensuring non-compliance with the represented service provider’s obligations pursuant to this Regulation andobligations under this Regulation, without prejudice to the liability of, and legal actions that could be initiated against, the provider of intermediary services. 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. Service providers shall provide their legal representative with the necessary powers and sufficient resources to guarantee their efficient and timely cooperation with the Member States’ competent authorities and comply with their decisions.
Amendment 585 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 2
Article 15 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall designate competent authorities to supervise and monitor the compliance of providers of intermediary services within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2021/xxx [DSA] with the obligations laid down in Articles 5 to 11 and 14 of this Regulation, where applicable. The competent authorities designated under Regulation (EU) 2021/xxx [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 3849 of Regulation (EU) 2021/xxx 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) 2021/xxx [Digital Services Act]. Article 458(1) to (4) and Article 460(1) of Regulation (EU) 2021/xxx [Digital Services Act] shall be applicable for matters related to the application of this Regulation as regards providers of intermediary services.
Amendment 591 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 3
Article 15 – paragraph 3
3. Each Member State shall designate one or more competent authorities to be responsible for the supervision, application and enforcement of the aspects of this Regulation not referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 within 15 months from ... [the date of entry into force of this Regulation]. 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 in full independence effectively monitor and take the measures necessary and proportionate to ensure compliance with this Regulationnsistent supervision, compliance and enforcement of with this Regulation. Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities have all necessary means to carry out their tasks, including sufficient technical, financial and human resources to adequately supervise all providers of intermediary services under their competence.
Amendment 595 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 4
Article 15 – paragraph 4
4. Competent authorities referred to in paragraph 3, where exercising their supervisory tasks in relation to this Regulation, shall have the following powers to request to access data, documents or any necessary information from providers of political advertising services for the performance of theirfor the performance of their supervisory tasks: (a) the power to require political actors, political advertising services, sponsors and political advertising publishers, as well as any other person acting for purpose related to their trade, business, craft or profession that may reasonably be aware of information relating to a suspected infringement of this Regulation, to provide such information without undue delay; (b) the power to carry out, or request a judicial authority in their Member State to order, inspections of any premises that those providers or those persons 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; (c) the power to ask any member of staff or representative of political advertising services, sponsor or political advertising publishers or those persons to give explanations in respect of any information relating to a suspervisory taskscted infringement and to record the answers with their consent.
Amendment 603 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point c
Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point c
(c) impose administrative fines and financial penalties or request the competent national judicial authority in their Member State does so.
Amendment 606 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point c a (new)
Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point c a (new)
(c a) impose a periodic penalty payment, or request a judicial authority in their Member State to do so;
Amendment 608 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point c b (new)
Article 15 – paragraph 5 – point c b (new)
(c b) request an independent audit in accordance with Article 11b (new).
Amendment 610 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 6
Article 15 – paragraph 6
6. Member States shall ensure cooperation among competent authorities and supervisory authorities in particular in the framework of national elections networks, 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. Member States shall ensure that their competent authorities have all necessary means to carry out their tasks, including sufficient technical, financial and human resources to adequately supervise political actors, sponsors, providers and publishers of advertising services under their competence.
Amendment 613 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 7
Article 15 – paragraph 7
7. Each Member State shall designate one competent authority as a contact point at Union level for the purposes of this RegulationWhere 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 contact point at Union level for the purposes of this Regulation. The Member State concerned shall communicate the name of the other competent authorities as well as their respective tasks to the European Coordination Network for Political Advertisement.
Amendment 616 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 8
Article 15 – paragraph 8
Amendment 619 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 8 – point a
Article 15 – paragraph 8 – point a
Amendment 623 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 8 – point b
Article 15 – paragraph 8 – point b
Amendment 626 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 8 – point c
Article 15 – paragraph 8 – point c
Amendment 629 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 9
Article 15 – paragraph 9
Amendment 633 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 a (new)
Article 15 a (new)
Amendment 636 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 b (new)
Article 15 b (new)
Article 15 b Right to lodge a complaint Individuals and any body, organisation or association mandated to exercise the rights conferred by this Regulation on their behalf shall have the right to lodge a complaint against political actors, political advertising services, political advertising publishers and sponsors alleging an infringement of this Regulation with the competent authority that is the contact point of the Member State where the recipient is located or established. During these proceedings, both parties shall have the right to be heard and receive appropriate information about the status of the complaint, in accordance with national law. The competent authority shall assess the complaint and, where appropriate, transmit it to the contact point in another Member State, accompanied, where considered appropriate, by an opinion. Where the complaint falls under the responsibility of another competent authority in its Member State, the competent authority receiving the complaint shall transmit it to that authority.
Amendment 639 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
1. In relation to Articles 5 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, which shall in each individual case be timely, effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Amendment 646 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Article 16 – paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Member States 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 the provisions of this Regulation. The Commission shall summarise and evaluate these reports annually in addition to the review process provided for in Article 18 of this Regulation.
Amendment 649 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Article 16 – paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. For infringements of Article 7 by political advertising publishers or service providers that are very large online platforms or very large search engines as defined in Article 33, of Regulation (EU) 2021/XX [Digital Services Act], Member States may impose fines up to the amount referred to in Article 74 (1) of that Regulation.
Amendment 654 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 18 – paragraph 1
Article 18 – paragraph 1
Within two years after each election to the European Parliament and for the first time by 31 December 2026 at the latest, the Commission shall submit a report on the evaluation and review of this Regulation. This report shall assess the need for amendment to this Regulation, , in particular with regard to: (a) the effectiveness of the transparency measures and application of Chapter II, especially the design, display and placement of the label to enable a better understanding of the wider context of each political advertisements and its aims; (b) the impact on the respect for the right to data protection and privacy and application of Article 12 and 12a(new); (c) the effectiveness of the supervision and enforcement mechanisms.. The report shall be made public.
Amendment 658 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 2
Article 19 – paragraph 2
2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 7(1a new), 7(7), 7(8) and Article 12(8) 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].
Amendment 660 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 3
Article 19 – paragraph 3
3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 7(1a new), 7(7), 7(8) and Article 12(8) 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.
Amendment 663 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 – paragraph 5
Article 19 – paragraph 5
5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 7(1a new), 7(7), 7(8) or Article 12(8) 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.
Amendment 668 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – point a
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.
Amendment 671 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – point b
Annex I – point b
(b) the identity and place of establishment of the sponsor on behalf of whom the advertisement is delivered or disseminated including their name, address, telephone number and electronic mail address, and whether they are a natural or legal entity.
Amendment 673 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – point c
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.
Amendment 674 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – point d
Annex I – point d
(d) any election, referendum, legislative or regulatory process with which the advertising is linked, if applicable.
Amendment 678 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – point e
Annex I – point e
(e) the provisional 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.
Amendment 679 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex I – point f
Annex I – point f
(f) the sources of the funds being used for the specific advertising campaign including for the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery and dissemination of the political advertisements.
Amendment 683 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex II – point a
Annex II – point a
(a) the specific groups of recipients targeted, including the parameters used to determine the recipients to whom the advertising is disseminated, with the same level of detail as used for the targeting and the ad delivery, the categories of personal data used for the targeting, ad delivery and amplification, the targeting, ad delivery and amplification goals, mechanisms and logic including the inclusion and exclusion parameters and the reasons for choosing these parameters.
Amendment 684 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex II – point a
Annex II – point a
(a) the specific groups of recipients targeted, including the parameters used to determine the recipients to whom the advertising is delivered or disseminated, with the same level of detail as used for the targeting, the categories of personal data used for the targeting and amplification, the targeting and amplification goals, mechanisms and logic including the inclusion and exclusion parameters and the reasons for choosing these parameters.
Amendment 685 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex II – point b
Annex II – point b
(b) the period of delivery or dissemination, the number of individuals to whom the advertisement is disseminated and indications of the size of the targeted audience within the relevant electorate.
Amendment 686 #
Proposal for a regulation
Annex II a (new)
Annex II a (new)
Annex IIa new - Information to be provided under Article 11a (new) (a) Advertiser specified content including where applicable, content author, all text, image, video, audio, captions for images and videos, links to other assets or external websites, combinations of advertisement creative elements as they were displayed to the recipients to whom the advertising is delivered or disseminated, interaction possibilities offered to the recipients to whom the advertising is disseminated. (b) Meta data including where applicable the disclosure string, content author, unique platform advertiser identifier, national advertiser identifier, timing details including the date of creation of the advertisement and the period of dissemination, information if an advertisement was removed and a statement of reason, information on repeated misdeclarations of advertisements. (d) Ad delivery and results including the number of individuals reached in terms of paid and organic impressions and engagements (per day and in total), where applicable aggregate numbers for the full and detailed list of groups of individuals targeted and distinctly from that ultimately delivered to by the means of ad delivery techniques, all parameters used for targeting, ad delivery and amplification techniques used including the inclusion and exclusion parameters and the reasons for choosing these parameters.