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European regulation of March 13, 2024 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising
European regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising
Translations are provided as a service to Arcom users and are supplied “as is”, throught the DeepL tool. Consequently, only the text of the original version is authentic.
A new European regulation lays down new obligations concerning the transparency and targeting of political advertising.
The regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising, whose provisions apply from October 10, 2025, aims to address concerns about the threat of information manipulation and foreign interference, as well as the use of advanced targeting techniques.
A draft legislation containing various provisions for adapting to European Union law should enable the national legal manager to adapt to the European regulation in the coming months. New prerogatives will be conferred on Arcom, which will be designated as the competent authority responsible for applying most of the text's provisions and, as such, should be endowed with new powers of control and legal sanctions to prevent and punish breaches of the regulation. The Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (French national data protectionagency) would be designated as the competent authority to ensure the application of certain articles strictly governing the use of personal data for political communication purposes.
The objectives of the regulation
The regulation aims to ensure that EU citizens are in a better position to make informed choices during elections by making it :
- recognize political advertisements more easily;
- understand who is behind such advertising;
- find out if they have received targeted advertising.
A new definition of political advertising
Political advertising" is defined as advertising that is developed, placed, promoted, published, distributed or diffused directly or indirectly by or on behalf of a political actor, or that is likely and designed to influence the outcome of an election or referendum, voting behavior or the legislative or regulatory process.
Players covered by the regulation
The regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising distinguishes three main categories of online advertising operator:
- sponsors,
- providers of political advertising services,
- publishers of political advertising.
This is the "natural or legal person at whose request or on whose behalf a political advertisement is prepared, placed, promoted, published, distributed or shown" (10 of art. 3).
The sponsor may be a politician or political party, an election candidate, a think tank, a non-governmental organization, a trade union, a commercial company, etc.
This is the "natural or artificial person who provides political advertising services, with the exception of purely ancillary services" (art. 3, 6).
This includes those involved in preparing political advertising and those who make it available to the public (publishers). The service provider may be a communications agency, an advertising agency or a political consultancy.
This is a "political advertising service provider who publishes, distributes or shows political advertising on any type of medium" (art. 3, para. 13).
Under the provisions of Recital 41 of the Regulation: "Political advertising service editors are providers of political advertising services who are generally at the end of the chain of service providers and who publish, distribute or show political advertising by broadcast, by making it available by means of an interface or by making it accessible to the public by any other means".
The service editor can be a television or radio service, a press company, a billboard company, an online platform, an influencer or a content creator, etc.
New obligations for online advertising operators
Sponsors' declaration to political advertising service providers
Sponsors are responsible for providing all the information required for the advertising in question, particularly if this advertising constitutes political advertising within the meaning of the regulation.
Advertising service providers keep this information for a period of seven years, and forward it to political advertising service editors in good time.
Political advertising publishers' transparency notice
Publishers must ensure that each political advertisement is accompanied by clear and unambiguous information. Political advertising must therefore contain a statement indicating that it is a political advertisement, including the identity of the sponsor, the election, referendum or legislative or regulatory process concerned, the cumulative amount and value of benefits received, and information on the public or private origin of the amounts. The declaration must also indicate whether the advertisement has been subject to targeting techniques.
A reporting mechanism has been set up to enable users to report any political advertisements that do not comply with the regulations.
Useful links
On the same subject
09 December 2025
Protecting political plurality
Ensuring respect for political plurality is one of the essential missions entrusted to the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication (Arcom) by the legislator: that's why we make sure that the different currents of national political life can express themselves in the programs of radio and television services, in particular political and general news programmes.