Political advertising: Why a little-noticed EU regulation could cause a big stir

The abbreviation is simple: TTPA. Behind it is an EU regulation that few in Germany or other EU countries have on their radar, although it may create major headaches for political parties, associations, NGOs and advertisers. The aim is to make political advertising more transparent. The Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulation is the EU's response to the risk of political interference from within and without. It was triggered by the scandal involving the British company Cambridge Analytica, which enabled the 2016 Trump campaign to use the data of millions of Facebook users without their consent for political profiling and targeting.

Campaigns targeting voter groups have also long existed in EU countries. But the TTPA may have unintended consequences, with some critics worried that compliance may pose bureaucratic hurdles so complex they could even erode democracy, for example by discouraging political speech. The regulation aims to compel all who work with political advertising to be transparent – whether in newspapers, on television, on social media or in digital media. It is essentially a comprehensive disclosure obligation for those who place such advertising, be they political parties, associations, NGOs or individuals.

This involves names, objectives, and finances. The regulation stipulates that every political advertisement must disclose its sponsor or financier; the amount of funding; the purpose of the advertisement – such as whether it aims to influence elections, EU regulations or lawmaking in a member state; who created the advertisement; the campaign to which it belongs; the total cost of the ad campaign; whether the party is listed in the lobby register; the source of the budget for the advertisement and campaign; the specific groups addressed by the advertisement (targeting) and the development of the advertisement if it is placed several times.

The obligations not only apply to social media and traditional election advertising.They even apply at the local level, as the EU Commission clarifies in its draft implementation guidelines. This means that if a local SPD association somewhere in the country simply wants to put out a flyer campaigning for the preservation of a local outdoor pool, those responsible must put a QR code on the flyer and list all the required information in the code.

Italian MEP Sandro Gozi is not surprised by the criticism. The new rules mean a "system change," says the European Parliament rapporteur who was responsible for the TTPA at the time, and resistance was to be expected. However, Gozi calls on the member states to be consistent: "They wanted TTPA to protect their democracies." Manipulation such as the covert payment of influencers in the presidential election in Romania are no longer possible under the new rules, he argues. But a member of the Bundestag familiar with the regulation disagrees, saying, "The regulation was intended to protect democracy, but now democracy is being damaged."

The level of effort required to comply is only now becoming clear – along with the trouble the new rules could still cause. However, the EU Commission has not yet created all the conditions. For example, there should be a uniform icon for digital advertisements in all member states, which readers can click on to view all the transparency information in a uniform database. This link does not yet exist.

Time is of the essence, as the regulation comes into force on Oct. 10. The fact that most EU member states have not yet created the necessary conditions a full year and a half after the TTPA came into force does not change this. In Germany, there is a draft bill for the implementation law, which defines who can check and who can impose sanctions in the event of violations. As things stand at present, the Federal Data Protection Commissioner, the Federal Election Commissioner and the Digital Services Coordinator at the Federal Network Agency are expected to be responsible for this.

However, the obligations arising from the regulation will not change. One ministry, which was involved in the departmental coordination at an early stage, simply stated: "The matter has been dealt with." In government circles, it is expected that the law could still be passed by the cabinet in October. However, even then it will still be a long way to the Federal Law Gazette; the first, second and third readings are likely to take another few weeks.

Some in the federal government say that, so far, the new law has not caused much of a stir. This jibes with the fact that there was little criticism at the hearing of associations at the end of August. But there are also some who suspect that those affected did not really grasp the consequences at the time. Nevertheless, few changes are expected. Unless, of course, the EU Commission itself concludes that a postponement or moratorium could still make sense – in this case, in view of the immense effort required.

Green MEP Alexandra Geese rejects this. The regulation was discussed extensively by the governments in the Council and the parties were involved via the European Parliament. "I would therefore have little sympathy for a discussion to postpone just because Germany is once again late in implementing it."