The Digital Services Act, introduced by the European Commission, sets out harmonised obligations for online intermediaries aimed at addressing illegal content, improving platform accountability, and increasing transparency for users. It builds on longstanding foundations of EU digital regulation, including the country-of-origin principle, the ban on general monitoring obligations, and the limited liability regime for hosting service providers. Together, these elements help strengthen trust in online services while continuing to support innovation and economic activity across the digital ecosystem.
This is why CME supports the overall direction and objectives of the DSA and its intention to strike a balance between user protection and enabling digital innovation. At the same time, we consider it essential that implementation fully takes into account the specific characteristics of online classifieds marketplaces — notably their strong local dimension, their predominant focus on consumer-to-consumer second-hand exchanges, and their role as intermediaries that do not hold or control the goods traded on their services.
For this to be achieved, CME considers that policymakers should prioritise the following when finalising and implementing the DSA:
- Maintaining the liability exemption for hosting providers.
- Allowing flexibility in the provisions on transparency focusing on protecting users online.
- Clarifying and simplifying the traceability of traders obligation.
- Clarifying the definition of Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs)
