REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the overall annual costs incurred for the fulfilment of the Commission’s tasks pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 in the period from 16 November 2022 until 31 December 2023 and the total amount of the annual supervisory fees charged pursuant to Article 6(4) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127 in 2023
Date: 2024-11-06
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology, European Commission
Subjects: Internet, administrative supervision, cloud computing, consumer protection, costing, digital single market, dissemination of information, information society, provision of services, service

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 6.11.2024  COM(2024) 523 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the overall annual costs incurred for the fulfilment of the Commission’s tasks pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 in the period from 16 November 2022 until 31 December 2023 and the total amount of the annual supervisory fees charged pursuant to Article 6(4) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127 in 2023         
 
 
1. 

Introduction 

(1)  This report is addressed to the European Parliament and the Council in the context of the enforcement 
of Regulation (EU) 2022/20651 – the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA lays down harmonised 
rules  applicable  to  intermediary  service  providers  to  ensure  a  safe,  predictable,  and  trusted  online 
environment  in  the  internal  market.  It  sets  out  basic  obligations  applicable  to  all  providers  of 
intermediary services, as well as additional obligations for providers of hosting services and, more 
specifically, providers of online platforms, very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online 
search engines (VLOSEs). It also establishes a system of supervision and enforcement of these rules 
by the Commission and Member States.  

(2)  The DSA entrusts the Commission with exclusive competence to designate and supervise VLOPs and 
VLOSEs,  so  as  to  enforce  the  DSA  obligations  with  respect  to  these  designated  services.  The 
Commission  is  also  mandated  to  coordinate  and  develop  expertise  and  capabilities  at  Union  level 
regarding  the  supervision  of  systemic  and  emerging  issues  in  relation  to  VLOPs  and  VLOSEs. 
Moreover, there are additional tasks assigned to the Commission that relate to the size and intrinsic 
cross-border and/or pan-EU reach of such designated services. 

(3)  To ensure the necessary resources for the Commission to effectively carry out the supervisory tasks - 
in terms of staffing, expertise, and financial means - Article 43 of the DSA requires the Commission 
to charge an annual supervisory fee to each provider of VLOPs or VLOSEs, subject to the conditions 
provided for in that Article.  

(4)  Article 43(7) DSA provides for the annual publication by the Commission of a report addressed to the 
European Parliament and the Council, as a way to provide accountability and transparency to those 
institutions in respect of the actions of the Commission under the DSA. In particular, that report shall 
provide information on the total amount of the supervisory fees charged to the providers of VLOPs 
and VLOSEs in the preceding year and on the overall amount of the costs incurred by the Commission 
for  the  fulfilment  of  its  tasks  under  that  Regulation,  as  established  in  Article  8  of  Commission 
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127. 2 

(5)  Due to the staggered commencement of the application of the DSA from 16 November 2022, as per 
its Article  93(2), and to the supervisory fee collection system  –  detailed in Commission Delegated 
Regulation (EU) 2023/1127 – through which the supervisory fees determined and collected in a given 
year serve to cover the Commission’s costs of the following year, the costs of the period running from 
16 November 2022 to 31 December 2023 were financed by the Union budget, and not by a supervisory 
fee. Therefore, during the reporting period the Commission used the resources that were allocated to 
DSA enforcement by the European Parliament and the Council through the Union budget.  

(6)  In light of the above, the present report provides an overview of the costs covered with the Union 
budget appropriations allocated for the period from 16 November 2022 to 31 December 2023, and the 

1 Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital 
(OJ  L  277,  27.10.2022,  p.  1,  ELI: 
Services  and  amending  Directive  2000/31/EC 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/2065/oj). 
2 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127 of 2 March 2023 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  with  the  detailed  methodologies  and  procedures  regarding  the  supervisory  fees  charged  by  the 
Commission on providers of very large online platforms and very large online search engines (OJ L 149, 9.6.2023, p. 16, ELI: 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2023/1127/oj). 

(Digital  Services  Act) 

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total amount of the individual annual supervisory fees charged in 2023 to cover the costs incurred by 
the Commission for the fulfilment of its tasks pursuant to the DSA in 2024, in line with Article 9(2) 
of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127. 

(7)  The publication of this report occurs after the end of the period of expenditure that it covers – this is 
from 16  November  2022 to  31  December  2023  pursuant  to  Article  9(2)  of  Commission  Delegated 
Regulation  (EU)  2023/1127,  although  its  adoption  comes  after  the  deadline  of  31  March  2024 
established in that Article due to the setting up of the novel budgetary processes and internal decision-
making procedures for DSA enforcement.  

2.  Costs incurred by the Commission for the fulfilment of its tasks pursuant to Regulation (EU) 

2022/2065 for the period running from 16 November 2022 until 31 December 2023 

(8)  The reporting period covered by this report goes from the start of the partial application of the DSA 
on  16  November  2022  to  the  end  of  the  first  financial  year  on  31  December  2023,  i.e.  before  the 
availability of the first DSA supervisory fee. 

(9)  This period can be considered as the starting phase of DSA enforcement. This includes the designation 
of the first 19 VLOPs and VLOSEs in April 2023, the start of application of their obligations 4 months 
later,  and  the  designation  of  additional  3  VLOPs  in  December  2023.  It  also  includes  the  first 
enforcement  actions  on  disinformation  and  the  protection  of  minors,  with  several  requests  for 
information sent to providers of VLOPs and the first opening of formal proceedings against one such 
provider. 

(10)  During  that  period,  the  Commission  set  up  the  necessary  internal  structures  and  allocated  the 
appropriate human, operational and administrative resources for an effective enforcement of the DSA 
and the fulfilment of its tasks. This includes recruiting staff and seconded national experts specialised 
in all areas of work covered by the DSA; developing the necessary IT systems; conducting studies for 
knowledge  gathering;  and  establishing  cooperation  agreements  with  relevant  bodies  for  capacity 
building. 

(11)  As  regards  human  resources,  the  Commission’s  department  within  the  Directorate-General  for 
Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CNECT) in charge of the implementation 
and  enforcement  of  the  DSA  underwent  a  restructuring,  which  was  completed  in  June  2023.  The 
existing and newly created functions and tasks were redistributed across one directorate (Directorate 
F). Within this Directorate, there are three units responsible for the enforcement of the DSA: one is in 
charge  of  supervisory  tasks  in  relation  to  providers  of  VLOPs  and  VLOSEs;  another  unit  ensures 
coordination, regulatory compliance and the relations with Member States, and supports the European 
Board for Digital Services; a third unit provides technological and economic expertise. 

(12)  The costs incurred by the Commission for the fulfilment of its tasks pursuant to the DSA during the 
reporting period  were  financed by initial  appropriations  voted  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Council for the general budget of the Union for 20233. 

3  Before  the  first  DSA  supervisory  fees  were  collected,  some  operational  expenditures  were  covered  by  the  Digital  Europe 
Programme according to the work programme. Statutory staff costs were covered by Heading 7 of the General Budget of the EU. 
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2.1  Total costs  

(13)  The  overall  costs  incurred  by  the  Commission  for  all  DSA  enforcement  tasks,  including  the  tasks 
referred to in Article 43(2) DSA4 and other tasks fulfilled pursuant to other articles of the DSA during 
the reporting period, by cost categories, are the following5:  

Total incurred costs 

Human resources expenditure 

EUR 26,87 million 

EUR 8,06 million 

Operational and administrative expenditure 

EUR 18,80 million 

2.2  Costs incurred for tasks related to Article 43(2) DSA 

(14)  Within  the  overall  amount  of  costs,  the  specific  expenditure  incurred  by  the  Commission  for  the 
fulfilment of the tasks referred to in Article 43(2) DSA in the reporting period are as follows:  

Costs incurred for tasks relating to Article 43(2) DSA  

EUR 26,14 million 

Human resources expenditure 

Operational and administrative expenditure 
Institutional administrative agreements 
IT expenditure (including experts) 
Studies and events 

EUR 7,38 million 

EUR 18,76 million 

EUR 15,03 million 
EUR 3,33 million 
EUR 0,39 million 

(15)  The differences in the costs for all DSA enforcement tasks and for only the tasks referred to in Article 

43(2) DSA are explained by the following: 

a.  The variation in human resources expenditure of EUR 0,68 million is due to the fulfilment of tasks 
such as monitoring of national structures, general policy guidance, and other regulatory tasks. 

b.  The  variation  in  administrative  and  operational  expenditure  of  EUR  0,03  million  is  due  to  the 
organisation  of  meetings  of  the  Commission’s  expert  group  on  the  DSA  and  a  study  on 
transparency reporting. 

2.3  Elements used for the calculation of the costs related to Article 43(2) DSA 

(16)  As regards human resources, the restructuring and recruitment processes referred to in paragraph 11 
above resulted in an increase of approximately 137% of the staff fully dedicated to DSA enforcement6 
in 2023. In March 2023, the DSA enforcement team was formed by 29 staff members, which were 

4 Article 43(2) DSA refers to costs related to the designation pursuant to Article 33, to the set-up, maintenance and operation of the 
database pursuant to Article 24(5) and to the information sharing system pursuant to Article 85, to referrals pursuant to Article 59, 
to supporting the Board pursuant to Article 62 and to the supervisory tasks pursuant to Article 56 and Section 4 of Chapter IV. 
5  The  figures presented  across  this  document  are  reported  in  EUR  million  with  two decimals,  without  any  rounding  technique 
applied. For this reason, some totals may not correspond with the sum of the separate figures presented in the report. 
6 This reference to staff fully dedicated to DSA enforcement does not take into consideration Commission services, other than DG 
CNECT,  that provide  support  on  specific  areas  of  DSA  enforcement,  but only  those  staff  members  whose  role  consists  in  the 
enforcement of specific parts of the DSA. 

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increased up to 58 by September 2023 when the obligations imposed on the providers of the first batch 
of designated VLOPs and VLOSEs started to apply. By December 2023, the DSA enforcement team 
had 69 staff members.  

March 2023 

September 2023 

December 2023 

29 

58 

69 

(17)  For  the  purpose  of  this  report,  the  yearly  calculation  of  human  resources  expenditure  has  been 
performed on the basis of average annual costs per full-time equivalent (‘FTE’) employees, including 
pro-rata  average  operating  expenditure  and  applicable  social  contributions  related  to  these  human 
resources, in  line  with  Article  2(2)(a)  of  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2023/11277.  The 
staggered recruitment process described in paragraph 16 resulted in a yearly lower average amount of 
FTEs amounting to approximately 36 (including 25 officials, 8 contract agents and 3 seconded national 
experts) for an overall amount of EUR 7,38 million8. The difference between 36 FTEs accounted for 
in the reporting period and the total number of 69 staff members at the end of 2023 is due to the fact 
that only the effective time worked on supervisory tasks referred to in Article 43(2) DSA per staff has 
been taken into account for the calculation of the costs, and that a significant number of staff members 
joined CNECT in the second half of 2023.  

(18)  As regards the operational and administrative expenditure, the calculation takes into account the 
operational  and  administrative  costs  as  described  in  Article  2(2)(b)  of  Commission  Delegated 
Regulation  (EU)  2023/1127  and  the  non-exhaustive  list  of  items  of  Annex I  to  that  Delegated 
Regulation, in the period from 16 November 2022 to 31 December 2023, which are necessary for the 
fulfilment of the tasks referred to in Article 43(2) DSA. These costs include, among others, studies, 
cooperation  agreements  and  IT  expenditure.  The  total  operational  and  administrative  costs  in  the 
reporting period amount to EUR 18,76 million. 

(19)  The  intra-institutional  agreements  (EUR  15,03 million)  include  a  service  level  agreement  and  an 
administrative  agreement  between  DG  CNECT  and  the  Joint  Research  Centre  regarding  risk 
assessment  and  algorithmic  expertise,  which  are  essential  for  the  Commission’s  supervisory  tasks 
referred to in Article 43(2) DSA. 

(20)  The IT expenditure (EUR 3,33 million) concerns primarily the development of the IT support system, 
essential for the information exchange, in line with Article 85 DSA. Expenses were further dedicated 
to the acquisition of specialised software licenses for implementation and enforcement elements of the 

7 The applicable average costs per FTE are annually calculated by the Directorate-General for Budget (‘DG BUDG’) in the context 
of the preparation of the Legislative Financial Statements and charge backs. Such average costs for the year 2023 amounted to 
EUR 171.000€ for officials, EUR 91.000€ for Contract Agents and EUR 93.000€ for Seconded National Experts, while for year 
2022 they amounted to EUR 157.000€ for officials, EUR 85.000€ for Contract Agents and EUR 88.000€ for Seconded National 
Experts.  Such  figures  have  been  increased  by  the  applicable  provision  for  social  contributions  (25,4%)  and  include  pro-capita 
average operating expenditure (such as buildings and IT costs). 
8 The human resources costs reported would have been significantly higher if the 69 staff members employed in December 2023 
had been employed during the entire year 2023. The total human resources costs would have amounted to approximately EUR 10,4 
million. However, for the calculation of the reported FTEs, the Commission took into account only the percentage of time worked 
per staff member in proportion to the number of days employed in the year, amounting to EUR 7,38 million.  

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DSA.  Accompanying  investments  have  been  made  in  operational  contracts  for  IT  experts,  IT 
development and technological equipment, targeting an upgrade in the operational capabilities related 
to DSA supervisory tasks. 

(21)  Lastly, additional resources (EUR 0,39 million) have been devoted to studies and events, in particular 
a  DSA  stakeholder  event,  experts  training  sessions  for  staff  in  view  of  developing  expertise  on 
supervision and a study related to adult content. 

2.4  Surplus or deficit 

(22)  Pursuant to Article 9(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127, the costs paid out of 
the initial appropriations voted by the European Parliament and the Council for the general budget of 
the Union for 2023 shall not be taken into account for the purpose of the balance referred to in Article 
8(4) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127 (surplus or deficit). Given that all costs 
incurred in the period from 16 November 2022 to 31 December 2023 have been financed by the initial 
appropriations voted by the European Parliament and the Council for the general budget of the Union 
for 2023, there is no surplus or deficit pursuant to Article 8(4) of Commission Delegated Regulation 
(EU) 2023/1127.  

3.  Overall amount of supervisory fees charged in 2023  

(23)  Article 2 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127 provides that the costs to be estimated 
for  the  supervisory  fees  charged in  year  n  should  be determined  by  taking  into account  all  human 
resources  to  be  employed  by  the  Commission,  as  well  as  other  operational  and  administrative 
expenditures related to the fulfilment of the tasks referred to in Article 43(2) of DSA in the year n+1. 

(24)  Article 43(6) DSA provides that the individual annual supervisory fees charged to each provider of 
VLOP  or  VLOSE  pursuant  to  Article  43(1)  DSA  shall  constitute  external  assigned  revenue  in 
accordance with Article 21(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament 
and of the Council.9 

(25)  The estimated total external assigned revenues deriving from the supervisory fees to be levied at the 
end of 2023 for the 2024 exercise, was included in the Working document, part V, accompanying the 
Draft General Budget of the Union for Financial Year 202410 pursuant to Article 41(8) of Regulation 
(EU, Euratom) 2018/1046. The overview of elements accounted for the estimation of the amount of 
external assigned revenues stemming from the supervisory fee, based on the forecasts of expenditure 
for 2024, was published on 30 June 2023, and detailed the elements to be considered for the estimation 
of the charges levied during 202311. In this regard, it has to be noted that this estimation did not include 

9  Regulation  (EU,  Euratom)  2018/1046  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  18  July  2018  on  the  financial  rules 
applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, 
(EU)  No  1304/2013,  (EU)  No  1309/2013,  (EU)  No  1316/2013,  (EU)  No  223/2014,  (EU)  No  283/2014,  and  Decision  No 
541/2014/EU  and 
(OJ  L  193,  30.7.2018,  p.  1,  ELI: 
(EU,  Euratom)  No  966/2012 
repealing  Regulation 
http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1046/oj). 
10COM(2023)300, p. 86 (single item of the budget lines group ‘1.02OTH’ Other Actions). 
11 Commission Staff Working Document, ‘Overview of elements accounted for the estimation of the amount of external assigned 
revenues  stemming  from  the  supervisory  fee  pursuant  to  Article  6(1)  of  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU)  2023/1127’, 
30.6.2023 SWD(2023)242 final (https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/dsa-overview-elements-accounted-estimation-
amount-external-assigned-revenues-stemming-supervisory).  

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any cost already incurred or planned for the period between 16 November 2022 (starting date of the 
reporting period) until 31 December 2023, as all costs for that period were already covered by the 
initial appropriations voted by the European Parliament and the Council for the general budget of the 
Union for 2023, as specified in Article 9(1) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127. 
The amount of the supervisory fees charged in 2023 therefore did not cover any expenditure incurred 
by the Commission to effectively carry out its supervisory tasks in the Union in the period running 
from 16 November 2022 to 31 December 2023.  

(26)  Pursuant to Article 8(3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/1127, the Commission shall 
indicate in the present report the overall amount of supervisory fees charged per provider of designated 
service(s), including  the  date  of  respective  payments, any missing  or  late  payment,  on-going court 
proceedings related to the implementing decisions referred to in Article 6(4) and recovery procedures 
referred to  in  Article  7(2) related to the  supervisory fees charged,  at the date  of  finalisation of the 
report. 

(27)  The overall amount of supervisory fees charged at the end of 2023 to cover costs of the Commission 
in 2024 was EUR 45 243 000. All providers required to pay the fee paid between 13 December 2023 
and 2 January 2024. There are no missing or overdue payments to report as regards the supervisory 
fees charged on providers of designated service(s) in 2023. 

(28)  At  the  date  of  finalisation  of  this  report,  there  are  two  ongoing  court  proceedings  related  to  the 
implementing  decisions  referred  to  in  Article  6(4)  of  Commission  Delegated  Regulation  (EU) 
2023/1127  addressed  to  the  provider  of  the  designated  services  Facebook  and  Instagram  (Case  T-
55/24) and to the provider of TikTok (Case T-58/24), respectively.   

(29)  There are no ongoing recovery procedures referred to in Article 7(2) of that Commission Delegated 

Regulation related to the supervisory fees charged. 

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