The role of the member states‘ digital services coordinator for ensuring coordinated and consistent enforcement of the Digital Services Act

Abstract

In 2020, European Commission proposed a legislative package (Digital Services Act and Digital Market Act) to reform the rules governing digital world and to achieve some of the goals set in the Digital Single Market strategy. The regulations aim to create a safer digital space where the fundamental rights of users are protected in the online environment. The Digital Services Act was published in the Official Journal of the EU on the 19th of October 2022. To ensure largely consistent enforcement of the Digital Services Act throughout the Member States, the Act contains extensive enforcement provisions and mechanisms and foresees Digital Service Coordinators to enforce its rules. By 17 February 2024, the Member States will need to communicate the names of their Digital Service Coordinators to the European Commission and to make sure that the appointed Digital Service Coordinators have the capacity to effectively implement the new EU regulation.

This article aims to compare the different approaches chosen by the Member States to ensure coordinated enforcement of the Digital Services Act. This paper argues that the decision for the appointment of the national DSCs is of high importance for building the countries’ enforcement capacity and it is indicative for the way each Member State perceives the scope and the implementation of the DSA. Although the DSCs should fulfil specific requirements, the exact approach chosen by the Member States in the designation process will determine the consistent enforcement of the DSA in all EU countries. Something more, the paper argues that in all Member States is coming the time to debate how to regulate our information ecosystem because the mechanisms and the instruments that once were put in place to manage and to regulate the media and the information system, nowadays, are not well equipped to do so.