The Digital Services Act – "A New Sheriff In Town"

Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, announced the Digital Services Act ("DSA"), which is intended to harmonise regulations on the internet at EU level, with the pictorial comparison of "a new sheriff in town".

It has been 20 years since the EU first laid down a basic legal framework for the regulation of the internet – namely the eCommerce Directive of 2000. Since then, it has been the Member States who took the lead on making the internet a safer or at least better place – however, on national level (e.g. in Germany with the Network Enforcement Act). This led to regulations regarding the internet being very inconsistent across the EU. From a business perspective, at times there was the impression of a fragmentation of the "European Internet".