Luxembourg MPs Adopt Bill Implementing EU Digital Services Act

Luxembourg's Ministry of the Economy has reported that the Chamber of Deputies (parliament) adopted Bill 8309 implementing the Digital Services Act (DSA) on Wednesday 2 April 2025.

The DSA is a European regulation aimed at creating a safer online environment to protect consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the internet. The DSA establishes clear responsibilities for digital platforms, such as online marketplaces and social media, to prevent and, where appropriate, remove illegal content as quickly as possible.

"The DSA represents a major step forward. By introducing fully harmonised rules applicable across the 27 member states of the European Union, this system will help combat the spread of illegal content, such as the sale of dangerous products, messages inciting hatred or the sharing of terrorist content, while ensuring the protection of users' fundamental rights online," said Lex Delles, Luxembourg's Minister of the Economy, SMEs, Energy and Tourism.

To ensure the proper implementation of the new rules, the DSA requires each EU country to designate a competent authority to coordinate the proper application of the DSA (known as the "Digital Services Coordinator"). The new law has assigned this role to Luxembourg's Competition Authority (Autorité de la Concurrence), which will monitor compliance by platforms established in Luxembourg with the DSA's rules, such as:

- the requirement for platforms to allow users to report potentially illegal content;
- the ban on targeted advertising aimed at minors;
- greater transparency around recommendation and advertising systems, so that users understand the reasons why content is suggested to them, and to clearly identify sponsored content, comments or results.

To fulfil its new role, the law has granted investigatory powers to the Competition Authority, which may request information or conduct inspections on the premises of a digital platform suspected of having violated the rules. The Competition Authority may, where appropriate, impose a fine of up to 6% of the global turnover of the platform found to have violated the DSA.

In its role as coordinator, the Competition Authority will cooperate with other Luxembourg authorities with an internet oversight role, such as the National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD), the Luxembourg Independent Audiovisual Authority (ALIA) and the Luxembourg Institute of Standardisation, Accreditation, Safety and Quality of Products and Services (ILNAS) for dangerous products. On 11 March 2025, the Competition Authority and seven other authorities entered into a cooperation agreement to ensure uniform and consistent application of the DSA in Luxembourg.

Moreover, the Competition Authority will assist the European Commission in its investigations targeting very large online platforms, i.e. those with more than 45 million users in the EU. These platforms are overseen by the European Commission and, due to their significant influence and daily use by millions of Europeans, are subject to stricter rules. For example, they are required to conduct independent audits and assess the risks they may pose once a year. To date, the European Commission has identified and designated 25 very large platforms.

Further information on the new obligations is available on the websites of the European Commission and the Competition Authority.