ERU, Alm.del - 2019-20 - Bilag 340: EM´s høringssvar om Europa-Kommissionens køreplan for den kommende retsakt for digitale tjenester, fra erhvervsministeren

Erhvervsudvalget 2019-20
ERU Alm.del Bilag 340
Offentligt

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.