Digital Services Act

The European Commission, as part of its commitment to revising internal market rules for digital services, has started a re-assessment of the e-Commerce Directive. While digital technologies and business models have continued to rapidly develop, EU rules for digital services have remained majorly unaltered since the adoption of the Directive in 2000.

In turn, the European Parliament has since fervently pushed for the revision of EU rules applicable to digital platforms. Indeed, the Internal Market and Consumer Protection ('IMCO'), the Legal Affairs ('JURI') and Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs ('LIBE') committees have each proposed a report to review existing laws applicable to online providers. While all three committees agree that the Directive's general principles, such as the country of origin principle, the limited liability regime and a ban on general monitoring obligations, are to remain unchanged, a number of proposals have been pushed forward.