The report confirms that the designation criteria for very large online platforms (VLOPs) and search engines (VLOSEs), including the threshold of 45 million average monthly active recipients, remain fit-for-purpose and well-suited to the dynamic digital environment.
The report also evaluates the interactions between the DSA and other 54 legal acts, in areas such as data protection and privacy, audiovisual, media and IP, consumer policy, product safety, and democracy, security, and justice. In its analysis, the report demonstrates how the DSA interacts with and complements other legal acts, providing a powerful baseline for sector-specific legislation due to its horizontal and fully harmonised effect.
In the context of the ongoing digital simplification process, the report identifies selected provisions where regulatory overlaps require closer coordination to ensure a clear application of legal frameworks. This contributes to a coherent and integrated regulatory framework, ensuring legal certainty for citizens and businesses, and informs upcoming legal revisions.
The report, based on Article 91(1) of the DSA, fulfils a legal obligation introduced by the co-legislators to assess the adequacy of the DSA’s horizontal framework and its interplay with other sector-specific legislation by 17 November 2025. It takes into account the feedback received from civil society organisations, Digital Services Coordinators, other national competent authorities, and online platforms and search engines, including VLOPs and VLOSEs, following 3 surveys launched by the Commission. The input received highlights a broad consensus of all stakeholders on the need for clearer legislation, guidance and more interinstitutional cooperation.
This report constitutes one of the most comprehensive legal mapping exercises on EU law regarding digital platforms and online intermediated services and is a valuable tool to navigate the digital acquis. It is the first of several reports that the DSA requires by 2027, evaluating both the Regulation’s impact on the development and economic growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, and its overall effectiveness following its entry into force.
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Policy and legislation | 17 November 2025
This Report shows that the Digital Services Act (DSA) is, overall, highly complementary to other Union legal acts – in the majority of cases, the DSA and other Union legal acts interplay in ways that are mutually reinforcing, with provisions designed to either build on one another or apply in parallel.