Source: OJ L 277, 27/10/2022, p. 1–102Current language: EN
- Digital services act
Basic legislative acts
- DSA regulation
Article 57 Mutual assistance
Summary What does Article 57 of the DSA regulation say?
This article establishes the framework for cooperation and mutual assistance between Digital Services Coordinators and the Commission in applying the regulation consistently.
It sets out how the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment must keep other Coordinators, the Board, and the Commission informed when opening investigations, and how investigative assistance can be requested and executed across Member States.
There are defined grounds on which a receiving Coordinator may refuse a request, and any refusal must be accompanied by a reasoned reply.
Important points:
- Digital Services Coordinators and the Commission are required to cooperate closely and exchange information to ensure consistent application of the regulation.
- The Digital Services Coordinator of establishment has a duty to notify all other relevant Coordinators, the Board, and the Commission when opening an investigation or intending to take a final decision.
- A Coordinator receiving a request for assistance must respond within two months, and if refusing, must submit a reasoned reply citing one of the permitted grounds for refusal.
Springlex's summary of the article is a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
Digital Services Coordinators and the Commission shall cooperate closely and provide each other with mutual assistance in order to apply this Regulation in a consistent and efficient manner. Mutual assistance shall include, in particular, exchange of information in accordance with this Article and the duty of the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment to inform all Digital Services Coordinators of destination, the Board and the Commission about the opening of an investigation and the intention to take a final decision, including its assessment, in respect of a specific provider of intermediary services.
For the purpose of an investigation, the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment may request other Digital Services Coordinators to provide specific information in their possession as regards a specific provider of intermediary services or to exercise their investigative powers referred to in Article 51(1) with regard to specific information located in their Member State. Where appropriate, the Digital Services Coordinator receiving the request may involve other competent authorities or other public authorities of the Member State in question.
The Digital Services Coordinator receiving the request pursuant to paragraph 2 shall comply with such request and inform the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment about the action taken, without undue delay and no later than two months after its receipt, unless:
the scope or the subject matter of the request is not sufficiently specified, justified or proportionate in view of the investigative purposes; or
neither the requested Digital Service Coordinator nor other competent authority or other public authority of that Member State is in possession of the requested information nor can have access to it; or
the request cannot be complied with without infringing Union or national law.
The Digital Services Coordinator receiving the request shall justify its refusal by submitting a reasoned reply, within the period set out in the first subparagraph.
Relevant recitals
Recital 127 Cross-border cooperation and information sharing
Given the cross-border and cross-sectoral relevance of intermediary services, a high level of cooperation is necessary to ensure the consistent application of this Regulation and the availability of relevant information for the exercise of enforcement tasks through the information sharing system. Cooperation may take different forms depending on the issues at stake, without prejudice to specific joint investigation exercises. It is in any case necessary that the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment of a provider of intermediary services informs other Digital Services Coordinators about issues, investigations and actions which are going to be taken vis à vis such a provider. Moreover, when a competent authority in a Member State holds relevant information for an investigation carried out by the competent authorities in the Member State of establishment, or is able to gather such information located in its territory to which the competent authorities in the Member State of establishment do not have access, the Digital Services Coordinator of destination should assist the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment in a timely manner, including through the exercise of its powers of investigation in accordance with the applicable national procedures and the Charter. The addressee of such investigatory measures should comply with them and be liable in case of failure to comply, and the competent authorities in the Member State of establishment should be able to rely on the information gathered through mutual assistance, in order to ensure compliance with this Regulation.
Springlex and this text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. No liability is assumed for its content. The authentic version of this act is the one published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Definition
recipient of the service
Definition
information society service
Definition
Digital Services Coordinator of destination
Definition
intermediary service
- a ‘mere conduit’ service, consisting of the transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient of the service, or the provision of access to a communication network;
- a ‘caching’ service, consisting of the transmission in a communication network of information provided by a recipient of the service, involving the automatic, intermediate and temporary storage of that information, performed for the sole purpose of making more efficient the information's onward transmission to other recipients upon their request;
- a ‘hosting’ service, consisting of the storage of information provided by, and at the request of, a recipient of the service;
Definition
Digital Services Coordinator of establishment