Position Papers

Over the years, EASA has produced a number of position papers on several issues. Below are extracts of the latest ones. Full position papers can be released to interested people upon request.

The Digital Services Act

The Digital Services Act (DSA), presented by the Commission in December 2020, is looking to complement the E-commerce Directive and update the legislative framework governing digital services and impact certain advertising elements. The DSA deals with issues such as the protection of consumers, the fundamental rights online, transparency requirements and the accountability framework for online platforms, among others.

As early as 2021, EASA established a position paper on the draft DSA, which was then regularly updated to keep up with the developments in the legislative process. The co-legislators found a political agreement on 23 April 2022, and the European Parliament adopted the text in Plenary on 5 July 2022.

In particular, the DSA addresses the following issues that are relevant for EASA:

Codes of conduct and codes of conduct on online advertising
Definition of “advertisement” and online advertising transparency
Internal complaint settling and out of court dispute settlement

The adoption by the Council of the EU took place in Fall 2022 and the entry into force 20 days later. The Commission’s published the list of very large online platforms 3 months after entry into force (Q1 2023). The regulation came fully into application in early 2024.

EASA is keeping in touch with the relevant institutions and regulators, in the phase of DSA implementation, to continue to make the voice of national ad SR heard.

Issue-based commercial advertising

“Issues-based ads” are commercial advertisements touching upon societal or controversial issues. As consumers are becoming increasingly conscious about the products and services they purchase, they want confidence that businesses adopt fair, ethical and sustainable business practices. As such, it is important for advertising to be able to reflect this, for example via issue-based ads.

Such commercial issue-based ads are already regulated by EU law, such as the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) and Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), complemented by the advertising self-regulatory systems, which provide robust, flexible and consumer-friendly mechanisms.

The European Commission adopted on 13th March a legislative proposal for a Regulation introducing strict political advertising transparency requirements. The broad definition of political advertising in the Regulation risks covering a wide array of issue-based advertisements, including purely commercial ads. Following interinstitutional negotiations between the Parliament and the Council of the EU, the Regulation started applying as from 10th October 2025.

To avoid legal uncertainty and detrimental side effects, EASA called for excluding commercial advertising from the draft Regulation. This resulted in the introduction of the wording “liable and designed” in the definition, among other useful changes. Nonetheless, the scope and definitions remain a weakness of the Regulation, and EASA keeps advocating during the implementation phase.

Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD)

The Audiovisual Media Services Directive 2010/13/EU contains a common set of rules around advertising standards, including a ban on tobacco advertising and restrictions around advertising to children that apply to all audiovisual content services. The text also features rules about programme sponsorship, product placement and quantitative limitations on the amount of advertising time allowed per hour on linear services.

The AVMS Directive was the first directive to dedicate an Article to formally recognise the value of self-regulation and the important role it can play in delivering a high level of consumer protection.

A revised AVMSD was adopted in 2018, leaving the Member States until 2020 to transpose it. However, transposition took longer in many Member States. Most of the work is now focussing on the implementation and enforcement. An evaluation by of the Directive by the European Commission is expected by 2026.

Background information

The AVMS Directive updated the 1989 ‘Television without Frontiers Directive, the main advertising regulation in the EU.
The AVMSD is a minimum harmonisation Directive. This means that Member States are free to choose the most appropriate means to achieve the EU objectives at the national level and that they can put in place stricter rules at the national level provided that those rules are consistent with the general principles of European law.

Green Claims Directive

The Commission tabled its proposal for a Green Claims Directive (GCD) on 22 March 2023, which lays down requirement to companies in terms of substantiation and communication of the claims they make about their product or services’ environmental merits, with a view to enabling consumers to make better informed environmental choices. All claims would have to be certified ex-ante by an independent accredited verifier. EASA has drafted a position paper and has communicated it to the relevant policymakers.

The position paper flags major risks posed by an ex-ante verification mechanism. The file has now reached the phase of trilogue. EASA advocates for the removal of the ex-ante verification mechanism -or at least a presumption of conformity applying by default to most claims.

The Green Claims Directive will complement existing EU consumer protection legislation, amended by the Directive Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition, adopted on 28th February 2024.

Digital Fariness Act – Building on the 2024 Fitness check

The European Commission initiated on 17 May 2022 a fitness check of EU consumer law. The fitness check aims to assess the adequacy of the existing EU consumer protection legal framework, consisting of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), the Consumer Rights Directive (CRD) and the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (UCTD), to the digital context. Only the first of the legal acts mentioned (UCPD) has a direct impact on advertising.

The European Commission has carried out various round of consultation since the start of the fitness check. EASA has contributed every time.

The fitness check’s final report, published in October 2024 looks into issues such as dark patterns, personalisation practices, and influencer marketing, among others, while also assessing the relevance, in an ever more digital world, of some of UCPD’s fundamental concepts such as average consumer, vulnerable consumer, or professional diligence.

The Digital Fairness Act will build on the conclusions of this report.