The EU Platform Regulation – regulates rights and obligations on digital platforms and search engines

Since July 12, 2020, new legislation applies to digital platforms and search engines. The legislation deals with the relationship between platforms and search engines and their business users. The purpose of the Regulation is to promote fair conditions and transparency for companies using platforms and search engines.

The EU Regulation on platform-to-business relations requires, among other things, that companies that own platforms must:

• design their terms of use in a simple and understandable language.
• notify business users in advance of changes to the terms of use.
• justify their decisions to restrict or suspend their services. If the service is terminated, the company must as a rule inform about it in good time before the termination.
• inform about the parameters that determine the ranking of offers (i.e. goods and services) on the site.
• inform about whether the platform's own goods and services are in any way treated more favourably than the goods and services offered by its users.
• inform about what data business users have access to, such as ratings and reviews from consumers.
• inform about any prohibitions for business users to provide goods and services on more favourable terms through other sales channels.
• establish a system for handling complaints from business users.

 

For companies that own search engines, the Regulation requires among other things to:

• provide simple and understandable information about the parameters that determine the ranking on the search engine.
• inform about whether the search engine's own goods and services are in any way treated more favourably than goods and services offered by its users.

Information on and investigation of violations of the Regulation

The National Board of Trade Sweden informs companies about the provisions of the Platform Regulation and provides practical support for the application of the regulation. By investigating complaints from business users, we monitor that the Regulation is complied with. The National Board of Trade can also investigate potential violations on its own initiative.

The National Board of Trade can, after a complaint or on its own initiative, contact the company that owns the platform or the search engine for dialogue. If we assess that there may have been a violation, we will enter into a consultation with the company concerned. The purpose of the consultation is to discuss possible measures that the platform or search engine may take to end the violation.

The National Board of Trade cannot take legal action to force companies that own platforms or search engines to change their business practices. Associations of business users who meet certain requirements can bring an action before the Patent and Market Court. The Patent and Market Court can decide that a company must comply with the Platform Regulation.

Send your complaint to us

A complaint is a public document. This means that anyone can get access to a copy of the complaint, but that certain information (for example information about an individual's business operations) may be covered by secrecy in accordance with the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400).

If you want to remain anonymous, it is important that your name or other information that makes you recognizable does not appear in the complaint. Please note, however, that we cannot ask you additional questions if we do not receive any contact information and that there is a risk that we will not be able to investigate your complaint in the best way possible.