Brussels, 2nd June 2021 – DOT Europe, the voice of digital, online and tech companies in the EU, is disappointed by the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) draft report on the Digital Services Act (DSA), published this week.
Siada El Ramly, Director General of DOT Europe, said:
“We support the ambition of the European Commission to revise the e-Commerce Directive for the 21st century through a Digital Services Act that updates horizontal rules and principles and clarifies responsibilities for online platforms.
Rapporteur Christel Schaldemose MEP’s draft report goes far beyond these stated objectives, adding proposals which are unclear, unfair and unworkable.
All stakeholders need to remain focused on the ultimate goal, which is to lay down practical procedures to better fight against illegal content online.”
The draft report from IMCO seeks to address a wide range of new issues through the DSA, with novel obligations in areas including consumer protection, algorithmic transparency, advertising, recommender systems, and ‘platform to business’ relations, to name a few.
While these are important issues which warrant further analysis and potentially legislative consideration, this cannot be done without due impact assessment or at the expense of this very much needed horizontal framework.
Ms El Ramly added:
The Commission is already working on a series of vertical initiatives to complement the DSA (such as the New Consumer Agenda and the AI Regulation). These are more appropriate venues for addressing many of these topics.
Our members take their responsibility seriously and are committed to maintaining a safe and consumer-friendly online environment. We call on all MEPs – in the IMCO committee and elsewhere – to work seriously towards a compromise that strengthens rather than weakens the prospects of an effective DSA that benefits all online users.”
DOT Europe will remain a committed stakeholder in this debate and looks forward to sharing its expertise as part of the DSA discussions with all interested parties.
ENDS
For more information from DOT Europe contact:
+32 2 626 1990
info@doteurope.eu
