Internet Regulation Updater

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The Digital Services Act (DSA) entered into force on 16 November 2022. The European Commission (EC) has now adopted secondary legislation with the criteria for calculating the annual supervisory fees. Article 43 of the DSA requires very large online platforms/search engines to pay the annual supervisory fee to cover the regulator costs.  

The EC will begin the calculation process in Autumn 2023 with payment due by 31 December 2023. The first fees will include not only the fees based on 2024 estimated costs but also fees to cover costs incurred since the DSA came into force (November 2022 through 2023).

Key points are:

• The fee is based on the regulator’s costs. All estimated costs associated with the Commission carrying out their supervisory, investigative and enforcement tasks. Relevant factors include human resources and any other administrative or operational expenditure necessary for the fulfilment of the tasks required under Article 43(2).
• The fee per provider is a share of total costs and will vary depending on the number of designated services and users. The basic amount payable in respect of each designated service shall be calculated as a share of the overall annual costs estimated for the year and proportionate to the number of average monthly users of the designated service.
• The fee is capped 0.05% of profits but that could push up fees for other providers. A provider shall not pay a fee exceeding 0.05% of its annual worldwide net profit in the preceding financial year. However, any shortfall due to the cap will be born amongst other providers.
• Interest is payable on late payments. A failure to pay the relevant fee within the deadline will carry default interest at the European Central Bank refinancing rate increased by 3.5%.
• The regulator is required to be transparent. To ensure transparency of costs incurred, the Commission will be required to annually report these to the European Parliament and the Council and make such report publicly available on its website.

Your contacts

If you would like to speak to the Deloitte team supporting clients on complying with fast-paced global internet regulation, please contact:

Joey Conway, Internet Regulation Partner, Legal Lead

Nick Seeber, Internet Regulation Lead Partner

Lauren Taylor, Internet Regulation Partner

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