EU Digital Services Act: Which are the competent authorities for your intermediary business?

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is a fundamental cornerstone of the EU's digital strategy. The act introduces binding obligations for all intermediary service providers, including online platforms, if they operate in the EU and regardless of their place of establishment. The DSA is already in force, with most of its obligations becoming applicable from 17 February 2024.

The European Commission itself is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the DSA by the very large online platforms and search engines that are active (also) in the EU. The national Digital Service Coordinators (DSCs) on the other hand will take on the oversight over all other intermediary services which have their (main) establishment in their respective territory.  Services without establishment in the EU must appoint a legal representative under the DSA, whose location will determine the competent DSC. This mechanism affords non-EU Intermediaries some leeway to strategically choose their jurisdiction.

The member states are currently busy designating their DSCs and equipping them with the required mandate and powers. To help you keep on top of the developments as they happen, we have created an interactive guide which provides an overview of the key information on DSC designations, as it becomes available.

Access the guide here.

If you are still considering in which member state to designate your legal representative, would like to check for any remaining compliance gaps or discuss other aspects of your holistic DSA compliance preparations, our DSA Taskforce is here to support you.

Authored by Anthonia Ghalamkarizadeh and Janis Beckedorf.