IAB Europe Submits Response to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on the Digital Fairness Act

Brussels, 27th October 2025 – On 23rd October, IAB Europe submitted its response to the European Commission’s public consultation on the Digital Fairness Act (DFA), which will contribute to the Commission’s impact assessment and inform a future legislative proposal.

In its submission, IAB Europe focused on key areas relevant to the digital advertising industry, including dark patterns, unfair personalisation and the use of personal data, influencer marketing, horizontal issues, and regulatory simplification.

Before addressing these areas, IAB Europe noted potential shortcomings in the consultation’s design that could distort the evidence base and result in biased outcomes in favour of EU action. It urged the Commission to account for these biases in the final report through contextual analysis, comparison with other data sources, and transparent communication of uncertainties.

IAB Europe reiterated its long-standing position - most recently communicated in a joint industry letter to Executive Vice President Virkkunen and Commissioner McGrath in July 2025 - that rather than introducing new rules affecting the digital advertising industry, the EU should prioritise the full and consistent implementation of the existing rules across Member States. The effectiveness of this framework should also be properly assessed, including recently introduced regulations not fully covered in the Fitness Check, such as the Digital Services Act (DSA).

In its submission, IAB Europe recommends that the European Commission:

• Focus on effective implementation and oversight of existing rules and provide clear, actionable guidance to enhance legal certainty and support compliance.
• Ensure coherent application of existing legislation and address duplication via the EU’s simplification programme.
• Refrain from introducing unnecessary new advertising-specific rules, recognising that digital advertising is already comprehensively regulated under the GDPR, DSA, UCPD, AVMSD, and ePrivacy Directive.
• Recognise and promote industry-led best practices and self-regulatory initiatives.
• Prioritise guidance before targeted enforcement on harmful or intentional practices.
• Enable compliant personalised digital advertising to continue delivering significant value to the EU economy and consumers.
• Strengthen consumers’ digital literacy through EU and national initiatives.
  

You can access IAB Europe’s full response to the Digital Fairness Act consultation here, and the supporting position paper here.

For further information, please contact Ines Talavera, Public Policy Manager, IAB Europe - talavera [at] iabeurope.eu, or Lauren Wakefield, IAB Europe - wakefield [at] iabeurope.eu.