Publisher obligations

Do the publisher rules apply to you?

Regulation (EU) 2024/900 has been in force since 10 October 2025. The obligations are heavy — and the exemption is narrower than most publishers assume. Find out where you stand in ninety seconds.

Maximum fine of annual worldwide turnover

Art. 25 PAR

7 yrs

Notice retention requirement, from last publication

Art. 12(4) PAR

Oct 2025

In force across every EU Member State

PAR

48 h

Pre-election complaint window to handle

Art. 15(7) PAR

Question 1 of 4

Does your organization publish, deliver, or disseminate political advertising?

This includes placing political ads in print, online, on billboards, in broadcasts, or on social media — regardless of how often.

Six obligations, one table

Every publisher under EU 2024/900 carries some version of these six duties. The right column shows who, if anyone, gets partial relief.

Article

Obligation

Scope & relief

Art. 11 PAR

Labelling

Every political ad must carry a clear label identifying it as political, the sponsor, and the linked election or referendum.

All publishers

Art. 12(1) PAR

Transparency notice

Each ad accompanied by a structured notice: sponsor identity, funding origin, targeting, restrictions, sponsor declaration — machine-readable per Art. 12(3).

All publishers

Art. 9 PAR

Record-keeping

All records relating to political advertising services retained for seven years from the date of the service.

7 years

Micro-exempt

7 years

Micro-exempt

Art. 12(4) PAR

Notice retention

Published transparency notices kept publicly accessible for seven years after the last publication date.

7 years

Micro-exempt

7 years

Micro-exempt

Art. 14 PAR

Periodic reporting

Annual management reports must disclose political advertising amounts and targeting at a Member-State level.

All SMEs exempt

Art. 15 PAR

Complaints & corrections

Public reporting mechanism with 48-hour pre-election urgency; outcomes notified to both sponsor and reporter with redress info.

All publishers

48h urgency

All publishers

48h urgency

Micro-undertaking exemption

Two keys. Both must turn.

Being small is not enough. The regulation relieves micro-undertakings from two specific duties — but only when advertising is, by any honest reading, negligible to the business.

Condition 1 — Size

Micro-undertaking under Dir. 2013/34/EU Art. 3(1)

Stay below the limits on at least two of these three thresholds on the balance-sheet date.

Balance-sheet total: EUR 350,000

Net turnover: EUR 700,000

Average employees: 10

Exceed two or more — you are not a micro-undertaking.

and

Condition 2 — Scope

Advertising is purely marginal and ancillary

All advertising — not just political — must be a negligible sideline to your main activity.

"Purely" is a strict legal qualifier: a minor revenue stream is already too much.

If both hold, you are relieved from

✓

Seven-year record-keeping Art. 9 PAR

✓

Seven-year transparency-notice retention Art. 12(4) PAR

You still must label ads, create and publish transparency notices, transmit information, and handle complaints.

Is advertising really "marginal" for you?

The regulation sets no numeric threshold. It asks five questions. Answer honestly — the question is about advertising in general, not political advertising.

What share of total revenue comes from advertising services?

Even single-digit percentages have been read as disqualifying in analogous EU case law.

Is advertising listed as a purpose in your articles of association or register?

If yes, you have formally declared advertising as a business activity.

Do you have staff, departments, or processes dedicated to selling ads?

Dedicated resources signal that advertising is structural, not incidental.

Would your organization function unchanged without the advertising revenue?

If the answer is no, advertising is not marginal — it is load-bearing.

Do you actively solicit advertisers — or do ads arrive unsolicited?

Solicitation behaviour distinguishes a business line from an accident.

A small newspaper that derives 30% of revenue from advertising cannot claim the exemption — even if political ads are only 1% of that revenue.

Eight real-world cases

Find the organization that most resembles yours. Red tiles face full obligations; green tiles can likely claim the partial exemption.

Full obligations

Local newspaper selling ad space

Print or online, advertising is part of the core business model. The exemption almost never applies.

Full obligations

Radio or TV station selling airtime

Advertising revenue is fundamental to broadcaster economics — marginality is very hard to argue.

Full obligations

Online platform or social network

Advertising is the primary revenue model. Full obligations apply regardless of company size.

Full obligations

Outdoor or billboard company

Displaying ads is the main activity, not a marginal one. No room to argue otherwise.

Exemption may apply

Small sports club newsletter

Main activity is running the club. A very occasional paid ad is peripheral — likely exempt if also a micro-undertaking.

Exemption may apply

Small event venue renting space

Campaign-event rentals with incidental signage — the core business is venue rental, not ad placement.

Exemption may apply

Parish or community website

A community site with a rare political notice alongside bulletin content. Advertising plays no meaningful role.

Exemption may apply

Print shop producing political flyers

Printing without placement control may not qualify as publisher at all under Art. 3(6) — see below.

Ancillary services: outside the regulation entirely

Art. 3(6) PAR · Recital 39

Pure support services that do not influence ad content, preparation, placement, or dissemination are not considered providers of political advertising services at all.

Transport & logistics

Printing & reproduction

Graphic & sound design

Event catering

IT & computing

Cleaning & maintenance

Postal & courier

Provide these services exclusively, without any say in where or how ads are placed, and you are outside the regulation's scope entirely.

How The Taurus enforces this

Art. 11, 12, 15 — built-in, not bolted on

Machine-readable JSON API

Every published notice exposes a public JSON endpoint — Art. 12(3) machine-readability with no export step.

Art. 12(3) PAR

Correction request mechanism

A public form to request corrections — routing, tracking, and dual notification built in.

Art. 15(2) PAR

48-hour pre-election urgency

Complaints within 48h of an election auto-flag with priority SLA tracking.

Art. 15(7) PAR

Dual notification with redress

Sponsor and reporter are both notified of every complaint outcome, with Art. 24 redress information included.

Art. 15(3) PAR · Art. 24 PAR

General information about Regulation (EU) 2024/900; not legal advice. The assessment uses simplified criteria. Whether the exemption applies to your situation depends on specific circumstances — consult qualified counsel. National transposition measures may also apply.

Be publishable on day one.

Notices, labelling, complaint handling, and 7-year retention — in one platform, audit-ready.