Having entered into force on 9 April 2024, with most provisions set to apply from 10 October 2025, the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/900 or TTPA) aims to help protect the integrity of elections and referendums against targeted manipulation and foreign interference. On 30 April 2025, the European Commission (Commission) initiated a consultation for a draft implementing regulation on the format, template and technical specifications of the labels and transparency notices of political advertisements in accordance with Articles 11 and 12 of the TTPA. The feedback period ended on 28 May 2025 and the adoption is planned for the third quarter of 2025.
In addition to this draft implementing regulation, the Commission recently circulated draft (non-binding) guidance to help with the effective implementation of the complex rules of the TTPA, particularly concerning the identification of political ads. This draft guidance represents the Commission’s current interpretation of the TTPA’s initial chapters and is designed to streamline compliance processes and reduce administrative burdens for stakeholders. While a draft and subject to change, it offers some helpful initial insights for sponsors, advertising service providers, publishers, and national authorities alike.
On the basis of the TTPA, the draft implementing regulation and the draft guidance, this blog post gives an overview over the envisaged rules under the TTPA and, in particular, sheds some initial light on (i) what constitutes political advertising, (ii) the obligations along the value chain, and (iii) what rules there are on targeting, data, and on the TTPA’s interplay with the DSA. Further, we set out (iv) a few practical implications and compliance challenges as well as (v) our thinking on potential next steps for stakeholders.
I. What constitutes political advertising?
Central to the TTPA and the object of much criticism is its broad definition of political advertising, which includes the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery or dissemination of a message. Under the TTPA, a message qualifies as a political advertisement if it is “normally provided for remuneration or through in-house activities or as part of a political advertising campaign”. The draft guidance clarifies that “remuneration” can include more than just money, such as benefits in kind such as travel, accommodation or event access. In addition, “in-house activities” cover messages disseminated using an entity’s own resources such as a political party’s internal marketing team.
Crucially, a message is deemed political advertising if it meets either of two criteria:
- By, for, or on behalf of a political actor: This includes messages from political parties, candidates, or entities acting on their behalf, unless purely private or commercial. The draft guidance specifies that the exclusion of purely private or commercial messages requires an analysis of the concrete situation determining whether the message is conducted directly by a political actor or by another entity acting for or on behalf of the political actor.
- Liable and designed to influence: This captures messages, including those on societal issues, intended to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, voting behaviour, or a legislative or regulatory process. The draft guidance specifies that there must be a “clear and substantial link” between the message and its potential to influence the outcome of an election or referendum etc. Further, it clarifies that the assessment here is objective and functional, requiring a holistic approach considering various factors such as content, sponsor, language, context, means of dissemination, target audience, and objective. While the additional colour provided on these factors in the draft guidance can certainly be helpful when assessing the political nature of an ad, the multi-factored approach (due to its balancing element) will nevertheless pose difficulties for providers if applied in practice, particularly at scale.
II. Obligations across the value chain
The TTPA sets out extensive transparency and due diligence obligations on all actors, with significant penalties for non-compliance, which can be up to 6% of annual turnover.
- Sponsors are expected to declare accurately whether a service constitutes political advertising and provide detailed information, including their identity, remuneration origin, and any link to an election or legislative process. A notable restriction is the ban on political advertising services for third-country sponsors in the three months before an election or referendum.
- Providers of political advertising services (e.g., agencies, consultants) are expected to ensure non-discriminatory access, establish contractual arrangements that facilitate TTPA compliance and information flow and ascertain the political nature of services and sponsor eligibility. They are required to keep detailed records for seven years in a machine-readable format and transmit this information to publishers. Providers are also expected to respond to information requests from national authorities and share data with “interested entities” such as vetted researchers and journalists. Non-EU providers need to designate a legal representative within the Union.
- Political advertising publishers (including Ad-tech providers and content creators/influencers) must ensure that every political advertisement carries a clear label and an easily accessible transparency notice. Required format and technical specifications of the labels and transparency notices are further specified in the draft Commission implementing regulation. Publishers will be required to make available the transparency information in the forthcoming European repository for online political advertisements and implement user-friendly notification mechanisms for non-compliant ads. Further, in the last month preceding an election or a referendum, publishers must process notifications about political ads linked to that election or referendum within 48 hours.
III. Targeting, data, and DSA interplay
The TTPA also sets out strict rules for online political advertising that uses targeting and ad-delivery techniques involving personal data. Such techniques are only allowed if personal data is collected directly from the data subject and their explicit consent is obtained specifically for political advertising. Importantly, profiling based on special categories of personal data (including sensitive data such as political opinions or racial origin) is prohibited. The same applies to targeting individuals known to be at least one year under the national voting age.
An important enforcement aspect lies in the TTPA’s interplay with the Digital Services Act (DSA). Non-compliance with the TTPA, such as failing to properly identify and label political advertising, could render the content “illegal content” under the DSA. This means that online platforms, even if acting as intermediaries rather than direct publishers, may be required to act under the DSA’s notice and action mechanism if notified by individuals of TTPA non-compliance. The draft guidance outlines a proportional, i.e. “stepwise approach” for publishers, prioritizing rectification before content removal.
However, the draft guidance also clarifies that intermediary services covered by the DSA (in particular, online platforms) are only in scope of the TTPA’s publisher obligations if the political message is boosted or otherwise paid to be disseminated or delivered to specific users. Where the online platform simply hosts the message and transmits it to the audience without a specific payment, this does not constitute a political advertising service within the meaning of the TTPA.
IV. Practical implications and compliance challenges
While the draft guidance provides helpful clarity in some areas, businesses and political actors could nevertheless face some technical compliance challenges along the way:
- Broad definition of political advertising: The “liable and designed to influence” criterion, particularly for issue-based ads, remains complex and requires holistic, multi-factor assessments.
- Administrative burden: Extensive due diligence, record-keeping, and information flow requirements across the value chain may require strong internal systems and potentially increased legal and technical investment.
- Technical demands: The emphasis on machine-readable formats, digital interfaces, and coordination with the European repository for online political advertisements points to a notable technical aspect of compliance.
- Potential fragmented enforcement: Despite harmonisation efforts, national authorities will oversee compliance, which could potentially lead to different interpretations and enforcement priorities across Member States.
V. Potential next steps for stakeholders
With the TTPA’s core provisions applying from 10 October 2025, proactive preparation is of crucial importance. Therefore, stakeholders should take the following measures into consideration:
- Review internal processes: Carefully assess current practices for identifying and handling political advertising, including contractual arrangements with third parties.
- Develop strong compliance frameworks: Implement or update systems for sponsor declarations, record-keeping, and ensuring accurate information flow.
- Enhance data protection compliance: Re-evaluate data collection and targeting practices to ensure explicit consent and strict adherence to prohibitions on sensitive data and minors.
- Integrate with DSA frameworks (where applicable): Online platforms should consider aligning TTPA compliance efforts with existing DSA mechanisms, particularly for content moderation and notification handling.
- Monitor national developments: Stay informed about Member State-specific rules on the implementation of the TTPA, election dates, and enforcement trends.