Art. 60 Joint investigations | DSA regulation | DSA

1. The Digital Services Coordinator of establishment may launch and lead joint investigations with the participation of one or more other Digital Services Coordinators concerned:
  1. at its own initiative, to investigate an alleged infringement of this Regulation by a given provider of intermediary services in several Member States; or
  2. upon recommendation of the Board, acting on the request of at least three Digital Services Coordinators alleging, based on a reasonable suspicion, an infringement by a given provider of intermediary services affecting recipients of the service in their Member States.
1. Any Digital Services Coordinator that proves that it has a legitimate interest in participating in a joint investigation pursuant to paragraph 1 may request to do so. The joint investigation shall be concluded within three months from its launch, unless otherwise agreed amongst the participants.
2. The Digital Services Coordinator of establishment shall communicate its preliminary position on the alleged infringement no later than one month after the end of the deadline referred to in the first subparagraph to all Digital Services Coordinators, the Commission and the Board. The preliminary position shall take into account the views of all other Digital Services Coordinators participating in the joint investigation. Where applicable, this preliminary position shall also set out the enforcement measures envisaged.
1. The Board may refer the matter to the Commission pursuant to Article 59, where:
  1. the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment failed to communicate its preliminary position within the deadline set out in paragraph 2;
  2. the Board substantially disagrees with the preliminary position communicated by the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment; or
  3. the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment failed to initiate the joint investigation promptly following the recommendation by the Board pursuant to paragraph 1, point (b).
1. In carrying out the joint investigation, the participating Digital Services Coordinators shall cooperate in good faith, taking into account, where applicable, the indications of the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment and the Board’s recommendation. The Digital Services Coordinators of destination participating in the joint investigation shall be entitled, at the request of or after having consulted the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment, to exercise their investigative powers referred to in Article 51(1) in respect of the providers of intermediary services concerned by the alleged infringement, with regard to information and premises located within their territory.

In order to facilitate cross-border supervision and investigations of obligations laid down in this Regulation involving several Member States, the Digital Services Coordinators of establishment should be able, through the information sharing system, to invite other Digital Services Coordinators to a joint investigation concerning an alleged infringement of this Regulation. Other Digital Services Coordinators, and other competent authorities, where appropriate, should be able to join the investigation proposed by the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment, unless the latter considers that an excessive number of participating authorities may affect the effectiveness of the investigation taking into account the features of the alleged infringement and the lack of direct effects on the recipients of the service in those Member States. Joint investigation activities may include a variety of actions to be coordinated by the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment in accordance with the availabilities of the participating authorities, such as coordinated data gathering exercises, pooling of resources, task forces, coordinated requests for information or common inspections of premises. All competent authorities participating in a joint investigation should cooperate with the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment, including by exercising their powers of investigation within their territory, in accordance with the applicable national procedures. The joint investigation should be concluded within a given timeframe with a final report taking into account the contribution of all participating competent authorities. Also the Board, where this is requested by at least three Digital Services Coordinators of destination, may recommend to a Digital Services Coordinator of establishment to launch such joint investigation and give indications on its organisation. In order to avoid deadlocks, the Board should be able to refer the matter to the Commission in specific cases, including where the Digital Services Coordinator of establishment refuses to launch the investigation and the Board does not agree with the justification given.

Article 60 Joint investigations

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