New EU regulation on transparency and targeting of political advertising

On October 10, 2025, a new EU regulation 2024/900 and the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1410 on Transparency and targeting of political advertising came into force. The aim of the regulation is to ensure that European citizens have full information about whether the advertisement they see is of a political nature, which politicians or organisations are behind this advertisement, and whether the ad they have received is targeted. While the new regulation will bring more transparency to these processes for the general public, certain actions are required of companies involved in the production, dissemination, and advertisement of political messages to comply with the regulation.

Based on official EU information and the Factsheet provided by Intergraf, Poligrāfijas grupa Mūkusala prepared a short summary to support our clients who might be affected by the new regulation. Please note that the article is just the overview of the new Regulation, and in order to read the full text and evaluate the obligations you or your company might have according to that, check the official documents: Regulation (EU) 2024/900; Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1410.

The new regulation focuses on providing transparency of political advertisement and those ads that are liable and designed to influence the outcome of an election, referendum, voting behaviour or a legislative or regulatory process on an EU, national, regional or local level. However, the regulation doesn’t affect the content of political advertisement, as well as it doesn’t cover content that falls under the editorial responsibility and views expressed in a personal capacity. This also doesn’t include messages from the public authorities on the organisation and modalities for participating in elections or referendums, as well as the presentation of candidates in specified public spaces of media, as long as it is done according to the law, allocated free of charge and ensures equal treatment of candidates.

The Regulation recognises three types of actors who take part in the production and dissemination of political advertisements, and therefore have certain obligations under the law. They are:

Providers of political advertising services

Providers of political advertising services are entities that are involved in the preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery or dissemination of political advertisements. Among others, providers of political advertising services can act on behalf of the sponsors by initiating political advertising services on their behalf. This category includes a wide range of professionals and entities, for example: design, advertising, marketing agencies, focus group and other research companies, broadcasters, newspapers and periodicals, billboards and other physical media, online platforms, websites (including news sites and political party sites), forums and blogs, video sharing sites, bloggers, and content creators. According to the regulation, this category of actors has a number of obligations, and among others, they have to require a sponsor’s declaration, ensure that the contractual arrangements are compliant, transmit relevant information to publishers and authorities, and safely store the information for 7 years.

It is important to note that this category does not include providers of purely ancillary services, in relation to political advertising services, i.e. services provided in addition to and which complement political advertising, but have no direct influence on its content or presentation and no direct control over its preparation, placement, promotion, publication, delivery or dissemination. Such services might include transportation, financing and investment, purchasing, sales, catering, marketing, computer services, cleaning, maintenance, postal services, printing services, and graphic, sound or photographic design.

Political advertising publishers

The third category of actors – Political advertising publishers – are usually at the end of the chain of service providers, and are playing a role in publishing, delivering or disseminating political advertising by broadcasting, making it available through an interface or otherwise making it available to the public. This category includes a wide spectrum of channels through which political advertising can be brought to public, for example: traditional ‘offline’ media (e.g. newspapers, television and radio), printed outlets (e.g. posters, leaflets, billboards), on-demand audio and video, online platforms, websites, search engines, streaming media, mobile applications, computer games and other digital interfaces, and content creators. Political advertising publishers play a key role in ensuring that all political advertisements are labelled and accompanied by the Transparency notes. The labelling must be clear, salient and unambiguous, and follow all the specific requirements specified in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1410. Besides labeling, Political advertising publishers also have to store all the relevant information for 7 years after the publication of the advertisement, complete or correct it without undue delay once it becomes incomplete or inaccurate, or promptly discontinue the publication, delivery or dissemination in case the corrections cannot be done without a delay. With the exception of micro, small and medium-size establishments, Political advertising publishers have to provide reporting to the competent authorities responsible for the auditing or supervision of political actors and include there the information on the amounts or the value of other benefits received in part or full exchange for the services provided, and the use of targeting and ad-delivery techniques, aggregated by campaign.

For the exact details, please check the official text of the Regulation (EU) 2024/900, as well as the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1410.

SIA “Poligrāfijas grupa Mūkusala” is a printing service provider, that does not develop or design the content of political advertisements. Therefore, the printing house does not assume legal responsibility for the compliance of advertisements with the requirements of the regulation.

However, in accordance with the principles of good practice, we are sharing the information available to us, which is based on the Intergraf FACTSHEET, which in turn is based on the European Commission’s information material on Regulation (EU) 2024/900 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1410.

LABELS AND TRANSPARENCY NOTICES OF POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS

This part is exclusively dedicated to printed media. Other rules apply for television, radio or online media.

Political advertisements should be labelled with the following information in a clear, salient and unambiguous way (see Article 11):

a statement that it is a political advertisement;
the identity of the sponsor of the political advertisement and, where applicable, the entity ultimately controlling the sponsor;
where applicable, the election, referendum, legislative or regulatory process to which the political advertisement is linked;
where applicable, a statement to the effect that the political advertisement has been subject to targeting or ad-delivery techniques;
a transparency notice [see details below]

The transparency notice, included in the political advertisement should include (see Article 12):

the identity of the sponsor;
if different than the sponsor, the identity of the provider of the remuneration;
the period during which the political advertisement is intended to be disseminated;
the amount and value of benefits received for the advertisement and campaign;
information on public or private origin of the amounts and benefits received;
the methodology used for the calculation of the amounts and value received;
where applicable, the election, referendum, legislative or regulatory process to which the political advertisement is linked;
where applicable, links to official information about the modalities for participation in the election;
where applicable, links to the European repository for online political advertisements;
where applicable, mechanisms for non-compliance notifications;
where applicable, whether previous political advertisements have been in infringement of the Regulation;
where applicable, a statement if it has been subject to targeting techniques or ad delivery techniques;
where applicable and technically feasible, the reach of the political advertisement.

The format of both, the label and the notice for printed media should be contained in a single printed box and should be displayed in high contrast to the background. They shall be legible, in fonts of adequate size and suitable shape, adapting to the publication medium and using sufficient contrast, as well as adequate spacing between letters, lines and paragraphs.

The transparency notice can be provided in printed form with the label or via a webpage link, QR code or equivalent. In all cases, it should be easily retrievable and accessible and kept up to date. QR codes shall be in high contrast to the background colour of the labels and of a size that is easily readable by a commonly available QR code readers, such as those integrated in hand-held communication devices.

TEMPLATES FOR LABELS AND TRANSPARENCY NOTICES OF POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS

The following template can be used for labels. It is not prescriptive but provides for a general idea of the expected layout. Alternative wordings are accepted.

Template for visual labels:

POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT

(using targeting and/or ad-delivery based on PERSONAL DATA)

The sponsor is [either (a) BUSINESS NAME of the legal entity, or (b) NAME AND SURNAME of the natural person].
(The sponsor is controlled by [either (a) business name of the legal entity or (b) name and surname of the natural person]).
(The advertisement is linked to [title and date of the election(s)] or [name of the legislative or regulatory initiative]).

More information at [webpage link]

The following template is applicable to transparency notices provided in a printed form:

TRANSPARENCY NOTICE

The sponsor: [either (a) Business NAME and, where different, the legal NAME, email address, postal address, and, where different, the place of establishment, and, where applicable, the relevant registration number of the legal entity or political campaign organisation without legal personality or (b) NAME and SURNAME, email address, and postal address, where made public, of the natural person.].
The entity ultimately controlling the sponsor: [either (a) Business NAME and, where different, the legal NAME, email address, postal address, and, where different, the place of establishment of the legal entity or (b) NAME and SURNAME, email address, and postal address, where made public, of the natural person.].
The entity paying for the political advertisement: [either (a) Business NAME and, where different, the legal NAME, email address, postal address, and, where different, the place of establishment of the legal entity or (b) NAME and SURNAME, email address, and postal address, where made public, of the natural person.].
The period during which the political advertisement is intended to be published, delivered or disseminated: [From start date to end date.].
The aggregated amounts and the aggregated value of other benefits received by the providers of political advertising services for the political advertisement: [Total figure and currency.].
The aggregated amounts and the aggregated value of other benefits received by the providers of political advertising services for the political advertising campaign: [Total figure and currency.].
Information on the origin of the amounts and other benefits received by the providers of political advertising services: [Public and/or private and EU and/or non-EU.].
The methodology used for the calculation of the aggregated amounts and the aggregated value of other benefits received by the providers of political advertising services for the political advertisement, and where applicable, the political advertising campaign: [How the amounts and the in-kind benefits received by each relevant service provider were identified and aggregated.].
The political advertisement is linked to; [title, level and date of the election] or [title of the initiative and the level of the legislative or regulatory process.].
[Webpage link(s) on official information about the modalities for participation in the election or referendum linked to the political advertisement.].
[Links to the European repository for online political advertisements.].
How to notify possibly non-compliant political advertisements: [Information on the mechanism for notifying possibly non-compliant political advertisements laid down in Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/900.].
[A previous publication of the political advertisement or of an earlier version of it has been suspended or discontinued due to an infringement of Regulation (EU) 2024/900.].

USE OF TARGETING and/or AD-DELIVERY TECHNIQUES based on the processing of personal data

[The political advertisement has been subject to targeting techniques and/or ad-delivery techniques based on the use of personal data.]
Information about the targeting and/or ad-delivery techniques used:

Analytical techniques used: [short description]
The specific group(s) of recipients targeted, including the parameters used to determine the recipients to whom the political advertisement is disseminated: [list]
The categories of personal data used for the targeting techniques or ad-delivery techniques: [list]
The targeting goals, mechanisms and logic including the inclusion and exclusion parameters, and the reasons for choosing those parameters: [short description]
Information on the use of artificial intelligence systems in the targeting or ad delivery of the political advertising: [short description]
Period of dissemination of the political advertisement: [start date and end date]
Number of views of the political advertisement: [total number]
Number of engagements with the political advertisement in terms of clicks, likes and comments: [total number]
Internal policy describing how targeting and ad-delivery techniques are used: [link or URL]
Other relevant information: [short description]

Effective means supporting individuals to exercise their data protection rights under Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council (General Data Protection Regulation), including the right to amend their personal data and withdraw consent to process their personal data for political advertising purposes:

The identity and contact details of the controller(s): [either (a) business NAME and, where different, the legal NAME, email address, postal address, and, where different, the place of establishment of the legal entity or (b) NAME and SURNAME, email address, and, where made public, postal address of the natural person.]
Reference to the right to withdraw consent to process personal data for political advertising purposes: [webpage link to interface of the controller providing for easy and user-friendly possibility to withdraw the consent for political advertising]
Link to interface allowing the exercise of rights under Regulation (EU) 2016/679: [webpage link]
Link to information provided pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/679: [webpage link].

Where the transparency notice is not included in the label, it should be made available online with the following technical specifications:

It should be made available in a machine-readable format. A transparency notice is machine-readable if it is provided in a format that software applications can automatically process, without human intervention, such as JSON or XML;
It should comply with the accessibility requirements set out in Annex I to Directive (EU) 2019/882;
The fonts should be sans-serif typeface and at least in 12 points size. The line spacing shall be at least space-and-a-half within paragraphs, and paragraph spacing shall be at least 1,5 times larger than the line spacing;
Where technically feasible, the contrast ratio between the elements of the transparency notice and its background shall be at least 4,5:1;
Where technically feasible, it should use a flexible layout, allowing them to automatically adjust to the screen sizes and interfaces being used;
Where technically feasible, it should be provided in a format that can be resized without assistive technology up to 200% in a way that does not require the user to scroll horizontally to read a line of text on a full screen window;
Effects or animations may be used to highlight and make the transparency notice more user-friendly.