Czechia not prepared for EU’s Digital Services Act

The Czech Telecommunications Office, which has just one month before it must start ensuring compliance with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), currently needs more staff and the necessary legislation to ensure it fulfils its tasks.

Although the DSA has been in force for larger digital platforms since August, it will apply to smaller digital players from February.

National authorities will ensure the regulation is complied with on their territory by controlling intermediary service providers established locally.

In the case of Czechia, the coordinator will be the Czech Telecommunications Office (CTU), which has a department tasked to oversee compliance with the DSA, among other things.

Although the department is supposed to have 18 staff to deal with this agenda, the CTU says it only has four. Tenders are still open for other positions in the team.

It is also unclear who will represent Czechia in the European Board for Digital Services, an independent advisory group of national coordinators at the European level.

However, it is not just staffing issues being dealt with at the last minute, as legislation still needs to be passed allowing CTU to function fully as a coordinator.

“The CTU cannot act until it is legally empowered. The law adapting the DSA regulation is still in the legislative process,” said a spokesman for the agency.

Euractiv.cz contacted the Industry and Trade Ministry, which oversees the DSA, to find out how far along the process the law is.

“The draft law on the digital economy is currently being finalised by the ministry and will be submitted to the government in the coming weeks,” the press office replied.

But it is not yet clear when it will come into force – or whether the CTU will be toothless in its duties under the DSA for some time to come.

(Barbora Pištorová, Ondřej Plevák | Euractiv.cz)