Negotiating session on EU political advertising regulation postponed
What was meant to be the last negotiating session on the proposal to regulate political advertising has been postponed, casting even more doubts about the possibility of a political agreement before the end of the Swedish presidency in June.
“Following a request of the Council’s Presidency, the trilogue on the Proposal for a Regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising initially scheduled on 5 June 2023 is postponed. A new date will be communicated in due course,” reads an email sent to MEPs on Tuesday (30 May) and seen by EURACTIV.
The draft law is meant to boost transparency in political campaigns and prevent the manipulation of electoral processes. The meeting was meant to be the fourth and final session for interinstitutional negotiations, so-called trilogues.
A European Parliament official told EURACTIV that the delay resulted from Stockholm’s push to agree on all topics within the proposal at once, meaning preliminary work on all areas must be completed before full discussion can occur.
“I think we might manage to reach a compromise on the outstanding points. It is certainly a very complex file…but I think that there is a strong will from our side and the Swedish presidency,” European Parliament’s rapporteur Sandro Gozi told his colleagues at a committee hearing on 22 May.
“Both Council and Parliament are aware of the absolute need to make it on time in view of the next European elections.”
EU Parliament adopts position on political advertising regulation
EU lawmakers approved the internal market (IMCO) committee’s text on the Regulation on Political Advertising, paving the way for the next phase of the legislative process.
Despite Gozi’s optimism, behind closed doors, progress on the file has been reported as slow by those involved in the discussions.
Earlier this month, EURACTIV was told by one EU Parliament official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, that there had been little technical or political progress on any of the key aspects of the text and that the idea of an additional trilogue had even been floated.
Stockholm had maintained, however, that they were aiming to finalise a general approach to the text before the conclusion of the Swedish presidency in June. Still, a parliamentary official blamed the delays on the presidency’s negotiation approach.
“They insist on reaching the trilogue already with a pretty good deal. Essentially, they want everything decided in one big package. There are no separate discussions on each topic, there’s one discussion on every topic, and then there’s one yes or no”, they said.
MEPs propose strict limits on personal data use in political ads
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The official added that outstanding issues within the draft law, however, mean that negotiators are not yet ready to wrap up the proposal as a whole as the discussions at the technical level are not mature yet.
As a result, the most controversial aspects of the proposal are still wide open, including the very scope of the ads that will be covered, the delineation of services and the thorny issue of the type of data that can be used for targeting.
Earlier this month, EURACTIV revealed a Commission non-paper that had been presented at the last political trialogue laying out, among other things, a more hands-off approach to regulating the use of sensitive data, which could impact the applicability of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
Talks on political ad rules drag on as sensitive data adds fuel to fire
Progress in trilogue negotiations on the political advertising regulation has been slow but the European Commission’s new proposal on targeting based on sensitive data is set to further complicate the picture.
“The idea is still to close a deal with the Swedes,” a second European Parliament official told EURACTIV.
But whether that will actually be the case remains an open question. If not, the file will be passed to the incoming Spanish presidency.
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