"The Digital Services Act (DSA) proposal: a critical overview" Discussion paper - version of 28 October 2021

This discussion paper sets out to provide a critical overview of the context and substantive provisions of the Digital Services Act (“DSA”) draft regulation presented by the European Commission in December 2020.

This paper is comprised of two parts. Part I provides an overview of the broader legal and policy context of the DSA package, briefly illustrating the existing EU legal framework for digital services and some of the initiatives undertaken in recent years in this domain. Following the structure of the DSA proposal, Part II of the paper provides an illustration of the rules introduced by the DSA proposal, covering the articles under Chapter I (“General provisions”), Chapter II (“Liability of providers of intermediary services”) and Chapter III DSA (“Due diligence obligations for a transparent and safe online environment”).
Chapter IV DSA on implementation, cooperation, sanctions and enforcement is not covered in this paper and will be discussed in further analysis.

The description of the relevant provisions includes reference to some of the positions expressed by various stakeholders in reaction to the DSA proposal. The paper also gives account of recent parliamentary developments in the DSA process, identifying some of the most significant amendments (and potentially contentious issues) in the DSA draft report of the lead IMCO Committee from May 2021 as well as in the opinions published by the LIBE and JURI Committees respectively in July and October 2021. The discussion highlights aspects of the proposal where clarifications, review and further debate are needed.
As the DSA legislative process continues, new and updated versions of this paper will be made available, to discuss legislative progresses in the European Parliament and the Council and other relevant developments in platform regulation.