Article 1 Subject matter and scope
1. The purpose of this Regulation is to contribute to the proper functioning of the internal market by laying down rules to ensure that business users of online intermediation services and corporate website users in relation to online search engines are granted appropriate transparency, fairness and effective redress possibilities. 2. This Regulation shall apply to online intermediation services and online search engines provided, or offered to be provided, to business users and corporate website users, respectively, that have their place of establishment or residence in the Union and that, through those online intermediation services or online search engines, offer goods or services to consumers located in the Union, irrespective of the place of establishment or residence of the providers of those services and irrespective of the law otherwise applicable. 3. This Regulation shall not apply to online payment services or to online advertising tools or online advertising exchanges, which are not provided with the aim of the facilitating the initiation of direct transactions and which do not involve a contractual relationship with consumers. 4. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to national rules which, in conformity with Union law, prohibit or sanction unilateral conduct or unfair commercial practices, to the extent that the relevant aspects are not covered by this Regulation. This Regulation shall not affect national civil law, in particular contract law, such as the rules on the validity, formation, effects or termination of a contract, in so far as the national civil law rules are in conformity with Union law, and to the extent that the relevant aspects are not covered by this Regulation. 5. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to Union law, in particular Union law applicable in the areas of judicial cooperation in civil matters, competition, data protection, trade secrets protection, consumer protection, electronic commerce and financial services.
Article 2 Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘business user’ means any private individual acting in a commercial or professional capacity who, or any legal person which, through online intermediation services offers goods or services to consumers for purposes relating to its trade, business, craft or profession; (2) ‘online intermediation services’ means services which meet all of the following requirements: (a) they constitute information society services within the meaning of point (b) of Article 1(1) of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 12 ) ; (b) they allow business users to offer goods or services to consumers, with a view to facilitating the initiating of direct transactions between those business users and consumers, irrespective of where those transactions are ultimately concluded; (c) they are provided to business users on the basis of contractual relationships between the provider of those services and business users which offer goods or services to consumers; (3) ‘provider of online intermediation services’ means any natural or legal person which provides, or which offers to provide, online intermediation services to business users; (4) ‘consumer’ means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside this person’s trade, business, craft or profession; (5) ‘online search engine’ means a digital service that allows users to input queries in order to perform searches of, in principle, all websites, or all websites in a particular language, on the basis of a query on any subject in the form of a keyword, voice request, phrase or other input, and returns results in any format in which information related to the requested content can be found; (6) ‘provider of online search engine’ means any natural or legal person which provides, or which offers to provide, online search engines to consumers; (7) ‘corporate website user’ means any natural or legal person which uses an online interface, meaning any software, including a website or a part thereof and applications, including mobile applications, to offer goods or services to consumers for purposes relating to its trade, business, craft or profession; (8) ‘ranking’ means the relative prominence given to the goods or services offered through online intermediation services, or the relevance given to search results by online search engines, as presented, organised or communicated by the providers of online intermediation services or by providers of online search engines, respectively, irrespective of the technological means used for such presentation, organisation or communication; (9) ‘control’ means ownership of, or the ability to exercise decisive influence over, an undertaking, within the meaning of Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 ( 13 ) ; (10) ‘terms and conditions’ means all terms and conditions or specifications, irrespective of their name or form, which govern the contractual relationship between the provider of online intermediation services and its business users and are unilaterally determined by the provider of online intermediation services, that unilateral determination being evaluated on the basis of an overall assessment, for which the relative size of the parties concerned, the fact that a negotiation took place, or that certain provisions thereof might have been subject to such a negotiation and determined together by the relevant provider and business user is not, in itself, decisive; (11) ‘ancillary goods and services’ means goods and services offered to the consumer prior to the completion of a transaction initiated on the online intermediation services in addition to and complementary to the primary good or service offered by the business user through the online intermediation services; (12) ‘mediation’ means any structured process as defined in point (a) of Article 3 of Directive 2008/52/EC; (13) ‘durable medium’ means any instrument which enables business users to store information addressed personally to them in a way accessible for future reference and for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information and allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored.
Article 3 Terms and conditions
1. Providers of online intermediation services shall ensure that their terms and conditions: (a) are drafted in plain and intelligible language; (b) are easily available to business users at all stages of their commercial relationship with the provider of online intermediation services, including in the pre-contractual stage; (c) set out the grounds for decisions to suspend or terminate or impose any other kind of restriction upon, in whole or in part, the provision of their online intermediation services to business users; (d) include information on any additional distribution channels and potential affiliate programmes through which providers of online intermediation services might market goods and services offered by business users; (e) include general information regarding the effects of the terms and conditions on the ownership and control of intellectual property rights of business users. 2. Providers of online intermediation services shall notify, on a durable medium, to the business users concerned any proposed changes of their terms and conditions. The proposed changes shall not be implemented before the expiry of a notice period which is reasonable and proportionate to the nature and extent of the envisaged changes and to their consequences for the business user concerned. That notice period shall be at least 15 days from the date on which the provider of online intermediation services notifies the business users concerned about the proposed changes. Providers of online intermediation services shall grant longer notice periods when this is necessary to allow business users to make technical or commercial adaptations to comply with the changes. The business user concerned shall have the right to terminate the contract with the provider of online intermediation services before the expiry of the notice period. Such termination shall take effect within 15 days from the receipt of the notice pursuant to the first subparagraph, unless a shorter period applies to the contract. The business user concerned may, either by means of a written statement or a clear affirmative action, waive the notice period referred to in the second subparagraph at any moment from the receipt of the notice pursuant to the first subparagraph. During the notice period, submitting new goods or services to the online intermediation services shall be considered clear affirmative action to waive the notice period, except in cases where the reasonable and proportionate notice period is longer than 15 days because the changes to the terms and conditions require the business user to make significant technical adjustments to its goods or services. In such cases, the notice period shall not be considered automatically to be waived where the business user submits new goods and services. 3. Terms and conditions, or specific provisions thereof, which do not comply with the requirements of paragraph 1, as well as changes to terms and conditions implemented by a provider of online intermediation services contrary to the provisions of paragraph 2 shall be null and void. 4. The notice period set out in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 shall not apply where a provider of online intermediation services: (a) is subject to a legal or regulatory obligation which requires it to change its terms and conditions in a manner which does not allow it to respect the notice period referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2; (b) has exceptionally to change its terms and conditions to address an unforeseen and imminent danger related to defending the online intermediation services, consumers or business users from fraud, malware, spam, data breaches or other cybersecurity risks. 5. Providers of online intermediation services shall ensure that the identity of the business user providing the goods or services on the online intermediation services is clearly visible.
Article 4 Restriction, suspension and termination
1. Where a provider of online intermediation services decides to restrict or suspend the provision of its online intermediation services to a given business user in relation to individual goods or services offered by that business user, it shall provide the business user concerned, prior to or at the time of the restriction or suspension taking effect, with a statement of reasons for that decision on a durable medium. 2. Where a provider of online intermediation services decides to terminate the provision of the whole of its online intermediation services to a given business user, it shall provide the business user concerned, at least 30 days prior to the termination taking effect, with a statement of reasons for that decision on a durable medium. 3. In the case of restriction, suspension or termination, the provider of online intermediation services shall give the business user the opportunity to clarify the facts and circumstances in the framework of the internal complaint-handling process referred to in Article 11. Where the restriction, suspension or termination is revoked by the provider of online intermediation services, it shall reinstate the business user without undue delay, including providing the business user with any access to personal or other data, or both, that resulted from its use of the relevant online intermediation services prior to the restriction, suspension or termination having taken effect. 4. The notice period in paragraph 2 shall not apply where a provider of online intermediation services: (a) is subject to a legal or regulatory obligation which requires it to terminate the provision of the whole of its online intermediation services to a given business user in a manner which does not allow it to respect that notice period; or (b) exercises a right of termination under an imperative reason pursuant to national law which is in compliance with Union law; (c) can demonstrate that the business user concerned has repeatedly infringed the applicable terms and conditions, resulting in the termination of the provision of the whole of the online intermediation services in question. In cases where the notice period in paragraph 2 does not apply, the provider of online intermediation services shall provide the business user concerned, without undue delay, with a statement of reasons for that decision on a durable medium. 5. The statement of reasons referred to in paragraphs 1, and 2 and in the second subparagraph of paragraph 4 shall contain a reference to the specific facts or circumstances, including contents of third party notifications, that led to the decision of the provider of online intermediation services, as well as a reference to the applicable grounds for that decision referred to in point (c) of Article 3(1). A provider of online intermediation services does not have to provide a statement of reasons where it is subject to a legal or regulatory obligation not to provide the specific facts or circumstances or the reference to the applicable ground or grounds, or where a provider of online intermediation services can demonstrate that the business user concerned has repeatedly infringed the applicable terms and conditions, resulting in termination of the provision of the whole of the online intermediation services in question.
Article 5 Ranking
1. Providers of online intermediation services shall set out in their terms and conditions the main parameters determining ranking and the reasons for the relative importance of those main parameters as opposed to other parameters. 2. Providers of online search engines shall set out the main parameters, which individually or collectively are most significant in determining ranking and the relative importance of those main parameters, by providing an easily and publicly available description, drafted in plain and intelligible language, on the online search engines of those providers. They shall keep that description up to date. 3. Where the main parameters include the possibility to influence ranking against any direct or indirect remuneration paid by business users or corporate website users to the respective provider, that provider shall also set out a description of those possibilities and of the effects of such remuneration on ranking in accordance with the requirements set out in paragraphs 1 and 2. 4. Where a provider of an online search engine has altered the ranking order in a specific case or delisted a particular website following a third party notification, the provider shall offer the possibility for the corporate website user to inspect the contents of the notification. 5. The descriptions referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall be sufficient to enable the business users or corporate website users to obtain an adequate understanding of whether, and if so how and to what extent, the ranking mechanism takes account of the following: (a) the characteristics of the goods and services offered to consumers through the online intermediation services or the online search engine; (b) the relevance of those characteristics for those consumers; (c) as regards online search engines, the design characteristics of the website used by corporate website users. 6. Providers of online intermediation services and providers of online search engines shall, when complying with the requirements of this Article, not be required to disclose algorithms or any information that, with reasonable certainty, would result in the enabling of deception of consumers or consumer harm through the manipulation of search results. This Article shall be without prejudice to Directive (EU) 2016/943. 7. To facilitate the compliance of providers of online intermediation services and providers of online search engines with and the enforcement of the requirements of this Article, the Commission shall accompany the transparency requirements set out in this Article with guidelines.
Article 6 Ancillary goods and services
Where ancillary goods and services, including financial products, are offered to consumers through the online intermediation services, either by the provider of online intermediation services or by third parties, the provider of online intermediation services shall set out in its terms and conditions a description of the type of ancillary goods and services offered and a description of whether and under which conditions the business user is also allowed to offer its own ancillary goods and services through the online intermediation services.
Article 7 Differentiated treatment
1. Providers of online intermediation services shall include in their terms and conditions a description of any differentiated treatment which they give, or might give, in relation to goods or services offered to consumers through those online intermediation services by, on the one hand, either that provider itself or any business users which that provider controls and, on the other hand, other business users. That description shall refer to the main economic, commercial or legal considerations for such differentiated treatment. 2. Providers of online search engines shall set out a description of any differentiated treatment which they give, or might give, in relation to goods or services offered to consumers through those online search engines by, on the one hand, either that provider itself or any corporate website users which that provider controls and, on the other hand, other corporate website users. 3. The descriptions referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall cover in particular, where applicable, any differentiated treatment through specific measures taken by, or the behaviour of, the provider of online intermediation services or the provider of the online search engine relating to any of the following: (a) access that the provider, or that the business users or corporate website users which that provider controls, may have to any personal data or other data, or both, which business users, corporate website users or consumers provide for the use of the online intermediation services or the online search engines concerned or which are generated through the provision of those services; (b) ranking or other settings applied by the provider that influence consumer access to goods or services offered through those online intermediation services by other business users or through those online search engines by other corporate website users; (c) any direct or indirect remuneration charged for the use of the online intermediation services or online search engines concerned; (d) access to, conditions for, or any direct or indirect remuneration charged for the use of services or functionalities, or technical interfaces, that are relevant to the business user or the corporate website user and that are directly connected or ancillary to utilising the online intermediation services or online search engines concerned.
Article 8 Specific contractual terms
In order to ensure that contractual relations between providers of online intermediation services and business users are conducted in good faith and based on fair dealing, providers of online intermediation services shall: (a) not impose retroactive changes to terms and conditions, except when they are required to respect a legal or regulatory obligation or when the retroactive changes are beneficial for the business users; (b) ensure that their terms and conditions include information on the conditions under which business users can terminate the contractual relationship with the provider of online intermediation services; and (c) include in their terms and conditions a description of the technical and contractual access, or absence thereof, to the information provided or generated by the business user, which they maintain after the expiry of the contract between the provider of online intermediation services and the business user.
Article 9 Access to data
1. Providers of online intermediation services shall include in their terms and conditions a description of the technical and contractual access, or absence thereof, of business users to any personal data or other data, or both, which business users or consumers provide for the use of the online intermediation services concerned or which are generated through the provision of those services. 2. Through the description referred to in paragraph 1, providers of online intermediation services shall adequately inform business users in particular of the following: (a) whether the provider of online intermediation services has access to personal data or other data, or both, which business users or consumers provide for the use of those services or which are generated through the provision of those services, and if so, to which categories of such data and under what conditions; (b) whether a business user has access to personal data or other data, or both, provided by that business user in connection to the business user’s use of the online intermediation services concerned or generated through the provision of those services to that business user and the consumers of the business user’s goods or services, and if so, to which categories of such data and under what conditions; (c) in addition to point (b), whether a business user has access to personal data or other data, or both, including in aggregated form, provided by or generated through the provision of the online intermediation services to all of the business users and consumers thereof, and if so, to which categories of such data and under what conditions; and (d) whether any data under point (a) is provided to third parties, along with, where the provision of such data to third parties is not necessary for the proper functioning of the online intermediation services, information specifying the purpose of such data sharing, as well as possibilities for business users to opt out from that data sharing. 3. This Article shall be without prejudice to the application of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Directive (EU) 2016/680 and Directive 2002/58/EC.
Article 10 Restrictions to offer different conditions through other means
1. Where, in the provision of their services, providers of online intermediation services restrict the ability of business users to offer the same goods and services to consumers under different conditions through other means than through those services, they shall include the grounds for that restriction in their terms and conditions and make those grounds easily available to the public. Those grounds shall include the main economic, commercial or legal considerations for those restrictions. 2. The obligation set out in paragraph 1 shall not affect any prohibitions or limitations in respect of the imposition of such restrictions that result from the application of other acts of Union law or the law of Member States that is in accordance with Union law and to which the providers of online intermediation services are subject.
Article 11 Internal complaint-handling system
1. Providers of online intermediation services shall provide for an internal system for handling the complaints of business users. That internal complaint-handling system shall be easily accessible and free of charge for business users and shall ensure handling within a reasonable time frame. It shall be based on the principles of transparency and equal treatment applied to equivalent situations, and treating complaints in a manner which is proportionate to their importance and complexity. It shall allow business users to lodge complaints directly with the provider concerned regarding any of the following issues: (a) alleged non-compliance by that provider with any obligations laid down in this Regulation which affects the business user lodging the complaint (‘the complainant’); (b) technological issues which relate directly to the provision of online intermediation services, and which affect the complainant; (c) measures taken by, or behaviour of, that provider which relate directly to the provision of the online intermediation services, and which affect the complainant. 2. As part of their internal complaint-handling system, providers of online intermediation services shall: (a) duly consider complaints lodged and the follow-up which they may need to give to the complaint in order to adequately address the issue raised; (b) process complaints swiftly and effectively, taking into account the importance and complexity of the issue raised; (c) communicate to the complainant the outcome of the internal complaint-handling process, in an individualised manner and drafted in plain and intelligible language. 3. Providers of online intermediation services shall provide in their terms and conditions all relevant information relating to the access to and functioning of their internal complaint-handling system. 4. Providers of online intermediation services shall establish and make easily available to the public information on the functioning and effectiveness of their internal complaint-handling system. They shall verify the information at least annually and where significant changes are needed, they shall update that information. That information shall include the total number of complaints lodged, the main types of complaints, the average time period needed to process the complaints and aggregated information regarding the outcome of the complaints. 5. The provisions of this Article shall not apply to providers of online intermediation services that are small enterprises within the meaning of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC.
Article 12 Mediation
1. Providers of online intermediation services shall identify in their terms and conditions two or more mediators with which they are willing to engage to attempt to reach an agreement with business users on the settlement, out of court, of any disputes between the provider and the business user arising in relation to the provision of the online intermediation services concerned, including complaints that could not be resolved by means of the internal complaint-handling system referred to in Article 11. Providers of online intermediation services may only identify mediators providing their mediation services from a location outside the Union where it is ensured that the business users concerned are not effectively deprived of the benefit of any legal safeguards laid down in Union law or the law of the Member States as a consequence of the mediators providing those services from outside the Union. 2. The mediators referred to in paragraph 1 shall meet the following requirements: (a) they are impartial and independent; (b) their mediation services are affordable for business users of the online intermediation services concerned; (c) they are capable of providing their mediation services in the language of the terms and conditions which govern the contractual relationship between the provider of online intermediation services and the business user concerned; (d) they are easily accessible either physically in the place of establishment or residence of the business user, or remotely using communication technologies; (e) they are capable of providing their mediation services without undue delay; (f) they have a sufficient understanding of general business-to-business commercial relations, allowing them to contribute effectively to the attempt to settle the disputes. 3. Notwithstanding the voluntary nature of mediation, providers of online intermediation services and business users shall engage in good faith throughout any mediation attempts conducted pursuant to this Article. 4. Providers of online intermediation services shall bear a reasonable proportion of the total costs of mediation in each individual case. A reasonable proportion of those total costs shall be determined, on the basis of a suggestion by the mediator, by taking into account all relevant elements of the case at hand, in particular the relative merits of the claims of the parties to the dispute, the conduct of the parties, as well as the size and financial strength of the parties relative to one another. 5. Any attempt to reach an agreement through mediation on the settlement of a dispute in accordance with this Article shall not affect the rights of the providers of online intermediation services and of the business users concerned to initiate judicial proceedings at any time before, during or after the mediation process. 6. If requested by a business user, before entering into or during mediation, the provider of online intermediation services shall make available, to the business user, information on the functioning and effectiveness of mediation related to its activities. 7. The obligation set out in paragraph 1 shall not apply to providers of online intermediation services that are small enterprises within the meaning of the Annex to Recommendation 2003/361/EC.
Article 13 Specialised mediators
The Commission shall, in close cooperation with the Member States, encourage providers of online intermediation services as well as organisations and associations representing them to, individually or jointly, set up one or more organisations providing mediation services which meet the requirements specified in Article 12(2), for the specific purpose of facilitating the out-of-court settlement of disputes with business users arising in relation to the provision of those services, taking particular account of the cross-border nature of online intermediation services.
Article 14 Judicial proceedings by representative organisations or associations and by public bodies
1. Organisations and associations that have a legitimate interest in representing business users or in representing corporate website users, as well as public bodies set up in Member States, shall have the right to take action before competent national courts in the Union, in accordance with the rules of the law of the Member State where the action is brought, to stop or prohibit any non-compliance by providers of online intermediation services or by providers of online search engines, with the relevant requirements laid down in this Regulation. 2. The Commission shall encourage Member States to exchange best practices and information with other Member States, based on registries of unlawful acts which have been subject to injunction orders before national courts, where such registries are set up by relevant public bodies or authorities. 3. Organisations or associations shall have the right referred to in paragraph 1 only where they meet all of the following requirements: (a) they are properly established in accordance with the law of a Member State; (b) they pursue objectives that are in the collective interest of the group of business users or corporate website users that they represent on a sustained basis; (c) they are of a non-profit making character; (d) their decision-making is not unduly influenced by any third party providers of financing, in particular by providers of online intermediation services or of online search engines. To this end, organisations or associations shall fully and publicly disclose information on their membership and source of financing. 4. In Member States where public bodies have been set up, those public bodies shall have the right referred to in paragraph 1, where they are charged with defending the collective interests of business users or corporate website users or with ensuring compliance with the requirements laid down in this Regulation, in accordance with the national law of the Member State concerned. 5. Member States may designate: (a) organisations or associations established in their Member State that meet at least the requirements of paragraph 3 at the request of those organisations or associations; (b) public bodies set up in their Member State that meet the requirements of paragraph 4 that are granted the right referred to in paragraph 1. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the name and purpose of any such designated organisations, associations or public bodies. 6. The Commission shall draw up a list of the organisations, associations and public bodies designated in accordance with paragraph 5. That list shall specify the purpose of those organisations, associations and public bodies. That list shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union . Changes to the list shall be published without delay and, in any event, an updated list shall be drawn up and published every six months. 7. The court shall accept the list referred to in paragraph 6 as proof of the legal capacity of the organisation, association or public body, without prejudice to the court’s right to examine whether the purpose of the claimant justifies its taking action in a specific case. 8. If a Member State or the Commission raises concerns regarding the compliance, by an organisation or association, with the criteria laid down in paragraph 3, or, by a public body, with the criteria laid down in paragraph 4, the Member State that designated that organisation, association or public body in accordance with paragraph 5 shall investigate the concerns and, where appropriate, revoke the designation if one or more of the criteria are not complied with. 9. The right referred to in paragraph 1 shall be without prejudice to the rights of business users and corporate website users to start any action before competent national courts, in accordance with the rules of the law of the Member State where the action is brought, which is based on individual rights and aims to stop any non-compliance, by providers of online intermediation services or providers of online search engines, with the relevant requirements laid down in this Regulation.
Article 15 Enforcement
1. Each Member State shall ensure adequate and effective enforcement of this Regulation. 2. Member States shall lay down the rules setting out the measures applicable to infringements of this Regulation and shall ensure that they are implemented. The measures provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Article 16 Monitoring
The Commission, in close cooperation with Member States, shall closely monitor the impact of this Regulation on relationships between online intermediation services and their business users and between online search engines and corporate website users. To this end, the Commission shall gather relevant information to monitor changes in these relationships, including by carrying out relevant studies. Member States shall assist the Commission by providing, upon request, any relevant information gathered including about specific cases. The Commission may, for the purpose of this Article and Article 18, seek to gather information from providers of online intermediation services.
Article 17 Codes of conduct
1. The Commission shall encourage the drawing up of codes of conduct by providers of online intermediation services and by organisations and associations representing them, together with business users, including SMEs and their representative organisations, that are intended to contribute to the proper application of this Regulation, taking account of the specific features of the various sectors in which online intermediation services are provided, as well as of the specific characteristics of SMEs. 2. The Commission shall encourage providers of online search engines and organisations and associations representing them to draw up codes of conduct that are specifically intended to contribute to the proper application of Article 5. 3. The Commission shall encourage the providers of online intermediation services to adopt and implement sector-specific codes of conduct, where such sector-specific codes of conduct exist and are widely used.
Article 18 Review
1. By 13 January 2022, and subsequently every three years, the Commission shall evaluate this Regulation and report to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee. 2. The first evaluation of this Regulation shall be carried out, in particular, with a view to the following: (a) assessing the compliance with, and impact on the online platform economy of, the obligations laid down in Articles 3 to 10; (b) assessing the impact and effectiveness of any established codes of conduct to improve fairness and transparency; (c) investigating further the problems caused by the dependence of business users on online intermediation services, and problems caused by unfair commercial practices by providers of online intermediation services, and to determine further to which extent those practices continue to be widespread; (d) investigating whether the competition between goods or services offered by a business user and goods or services offered or controlled by a provider of online intermediation services constitutes fair competition and whether providers of online intermediation services misuse privileged data in this regard; (e) assessing the effect of this Regulation on any possible imbalances in the relationships between providers of operating systems and their business users; (f) assessing whether the scope of the Regulation, especially as regards the definition of ‘business user’, is suitable in that it does not encourage bogus self-employment. The first and subsequent evaluations shall establish whether additional rules, including regarding enforcement, may be required to ensure a fair, predictable, sustainable and trusted online business environment within the internal market. Following the evaluations, the Commission shall take appropriate measures, which may include legislative proposals. 3. Member States shall provide any relevant information they have that the Commission may require for the purposes of drawing up the report referred to in paragraph 1. 4. In carrying out the evaluation of this Regulation, the Commission shall take into account inter alia, the opinions and reports presented to it by the group of experts for the Observatory on the Online Platform Economy. It shall also take into account the content and functioning of any codes of conduct referred to in Article 17, where appropriate.
Article 19 Entry into force and application
1. This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . 2. It shall apply from 12 July 2020.