Erhvervsudvalget 2019-20
ERU Alm.del Bilag 340
Offentligt
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MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY,
BUSINESS AND FINANCIAL
AFFAIRS
Denmark’s response to the Roadmap for the Digital Services Act
package
Deepening the Internal Market and clarifying responsibili-
ties for digital services
The Danish Government welcomes the Commission’s decision to launch a
Digital Services Act and appreciates the opportunity to comment on the
Commission’s roadmap. We support the Commission’s outlined objectives
of creating a modern legal framework for digital services, strengthening
the Digital Single Market and ensuring that digital service providers act
responsibly to mitigate risks deriving from their services, while at the same
time safeguard fundamental rights.
The platform economy has been a significant contribution to the Single
Market. Digital platforms provide a direct link between European compa-
nies and consumers across borders, thus enabling trade and contributing to
the growth of European SME’s, as well as increase consumer choice and
competitive prices. Further, internet intermediaries serve an important role
as gateways to information and facilitators of the right to freedom of ex-
pression and assembly. The core principles established with the E-Com-
merce Directive have been instrumental in the development of a strong Eu-
ropean platform economy, and accordingly a wide range of business mod-
els has emerged since the E-Commerce Directive entered into force. While
this development is a success for the Single Market, it has also entailed
new challenges, which the E-Commerce Directive does not address. In par-
ticular, we find that there is a need to reconsider the scope of online inter-
mediaries’ duties and responsibilities with regard to illegal content online.
Furthermore, there is a need to explore how to create an effective cross
border cooperation and strengthen the enforcement of rules applying for
digital platforms.
Harmful content should not be equated with illegal content
The Danish Government recognizes the necessity of addressing the spread
of harmful content and disinformation and welcome that the Commission
explores the option of addressing this challenge in the Digital Services Act
Package. However, we would emphasise that harmful content should never
be equated with illegal content, and accordingly an important distinction
should be made between the measures taken to address the two challenges.
It is important to ensure fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and
to ensure that platforms are not incentivised to remove legal content.
Address fragmentation stemming from both national and EU-legislation
We support that the Impact Assessment will analyse the challenge of frag-
mentation in the Single Market in relation to the introduction of national
MINISTRY OF INDUSTRY, BUSI-
NESS AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS
Slotsholmsgade 10-12
DK-1216 Copenhagen K
Tlf.
Fax
+45 33 92 33 50
+45 33 12 37 78
CVR-nr. 10 09 24 85
EAN nr. 5798000026001
[email protected]
www.em.dk
ERU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 340: EM´s høringssvar om Europa-Kommissionens køreplan for den kommende retsakt for digitale tjenester, fra erhvervsministeren
legislation imposing different obligations on digital services and the need
for cross-border enforcement. We recommend that the Commission addi-
tionally analyse the fragmentation of Union law, where sector-specific leg-
islation over the years have introduced diverging rules for tackling illegal
content. Any harmonised and coherent approach would need to address the
legal uncertainty and administrative burdens stemming from the fragmen-
tation of both national and Union legislation.
Important to identify ways to improve enforcement
Enforcement of rules on illegal content is essential to protect users and to
ensure a level playing field for the businesses complying with the rules.
When users experience that their rights have been violated, as for instance
when private videos or photos have been shared on a platform without their
consent, there should be a clear and effective mechanism to enforce the
law. Thus, we encourage the Commission to explore different enforcement
options for protecting citizens' and businesses' rights.
It is important to analyse the challenges arising in enforcing the EU con-
sumer protection rules such as misleading marketing or product safety -
both regarding platforms established within the EU and platforms from
third countries. We urge the Commission to analyse the options for revis-
ing and clarifying the exemptions of the principle of origin, with a view to
enable national authorities to effectively enforce consumer protection.
Further, the Commission should look into how the rules on commercial
communication in article 6 of the E-Commerce Directive could be revised
in order to address the challenges arising for especially children and young
adults in recognising whether they are exposed to marketing on platforms
and especially social media.
Important to assess all possible policy options and measures
With regard to the outlined policy options we would recommend that the
Commission does not in advance commit to one set direction for a future
legislative proposal but considers and assesses all the possible measures
and tools at its disposal. In particular, we would emphasise the importance
of ensuring that the different policy measures do not hinder innovation or
the application of new technologies or business models. Given that the dig-
ital services industry develops rapidly, it is important that the policy
measures considered are future-proof and is not limited to regulate or pro-
tect technology or business models that might later become obsolete.
Finally, The Danish Government will elaborate more in detail on our posi-
tion on the coming DSA-package in the public consultation.
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