PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC PROMULGATES DECREE ENSURING IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN DIGITAL SERVICES ACT
Meet The Law - TMC - Technology, Media & Communications
On 14 April 2026, the President of the Republic promulgated Decree No. 47/XVII/1 of the Assembly of the Republic, which implements, within the national legal framework, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a single market for digital services (Digital Services Act).
This legislative act establishes the national legal framework for the application of the Digital Services Act, also amending Decree-Law no. 7/2004 of 7 January (electronic commerce) and the Law on the Organisation of the Judicial System, as well as repealing Decree-Law No. 20-B/2024 of 16 February.
Among the implemented measures, we highlight the following:
- Strengthened obligations for intermediary service providers: introduces clear obligations to comply with orders from competent authorities to:
- remove or block unlawful content;
- provide information on users and recipients of services.
- Formal requirements for authority orders addressing digital content: establishes the minimum elements that such orders must contain.
- Designation of ANACOM as Digital Services Coordinator: ANACOM assumes a central role, with powers of supervision, enforcement, investigation, and the imposition of corrective measures and sanctions.
- Allocation of competences among authorities and enhanced institutional coordination:
- Regulatory Authority for the Media (Entidade Reguladora da Comunicação): matters relating to content and media;
- Portuguese Data Protection Supervisory Authority (Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados): data protection matters.
- Strengthened investigative and enforcement powers: ANACOM may, in particular:
- request information;
- order inspections (subject to judicial authorisation);
- impose corrective measures;
- apply fines and periodic penalty payments.
- Mechanisms for intervention in serious situations: provision for exceptional measures, including the imposition of action plans and temporary restrictions on access to services in extreme cases.
- Complaint and user participation system: service recipients will be able to file complaints with ANACOM.
- Creation of a centralised communication platform: the decree provides for the development of a digital platform managed by ANACOM, intended for:
- submission and receipt of orders between authorities and service providers;
- processing of communications and information requests;
- handling of user complaints;
- sharing of information between national and European authorities.
- Fines and penalties:
- The maximum amount of fines applicable for administrative offences is set at 6% of the income earned by natural persons in the financial year preceding the conviction decision or, in the case of legal persons, 6% of their global annual turnover, also referring to the year preceding the conviction decision.
- Possibility of imposing periodic penalty payments.
This Decree-Law thus constitutes a decisive step in the operationalisation of the Digital Services Regulation in Portugal, strengthening the powers of national authorities and detailing the regime applicable to digital service providers, with a direct impact on the digital ecosystem and user protection.
Following promulgation, the decree will proceed to publication in the Official Gazette (Diário da República).
