Declaration Obligations

Declaration obligations refer to the legal requirement for sponsors and providers of political advertising services to provide specific transparency information before, during, and after a political advertisement is published. This includes declaring who paid for the ad, the amounts spent, and other details that help voters understand who is trying to influence them and how.

Legal Basis

"Sponsors shall, before the first publication or dissemination of a political advertisement, provide the publisher with the transparency information referred to in Article 6 and, as soon as possible and without undue delay, update such information when necessary."

— Article 7(1), Regulation (EU) 2024/900

"Sponsors shall, within three months after the last day of dissemination of a political advertisement or, where applicable, 30 days after a voting day or the last day of voting in an election or referendum, whichever date comes first, make publicly available the information on the total amount of expenditure incurred for that political advertisement or political advertising campaign."

— Article 7(4), Regulation (EU) 2024/900

Why It Matters

Declaration obligations are the foundation of political advertising transparency in the EU. These requirements ensure that every political ad carries clear information about who is behind it, making it much harder for hidden actors to manipulate public opinion without accountability.

For sponsors (political parties, candidates, advocacy groups), declaration obligations mean gathering and sharing information about ad spending, targeting techniques, and reach before and after campaigns. Providers of political advertising services—including platforms, publishers, influencers, and ad agencies—must ensure this information is displayed correctly and made available to the public and authorities.

Failing to meet declaration obligations can result in penalties from national authorities and damage to reputation. More importantly, these requirements protect democratic processes by giving voters the information they need to critically evaluate political messages and understand who is trying to influence their vote.

Key Points

Pre-publication duty: Sponsors must provide transparency information to publishers before an ad goes live, ensuring labels and disclosures appear from the first moment of dissemination.
Post-campaign reporting: Within three months after an ad campaign ends (or 30 days after voting day, whichever is first), sponsors must publicly disclose total spending for that campaign.
Continuous updates: If information changes during a campaign (e.g., additional sponsors join, spending increases), sponsors must update the transparency information without undue delay.
Publisher responsibility: Publishers must ensure that the transparency information provided by sponsors is displayed correctly and remains accessible throughout the ad's dissemination.
Accessibility to authorities: Transparency information must be made available in a format that allows competent authorities and, where applicable, the public to verify compliance.
Cross-border consistency: Declaration obligations apply uniformly across all EU Member States, preventing sponsors from exploiting regulatory gaps by advertising across borders.

Declaration Obligations vs. Transparency Notice

While closely related, declaration obligations and transparency notices serve different functions in the TTPA framework. Declaration obligations are the legal duties placed on sponsors and providers to gather, provide, and report information at specific points in time (before publication, during campaigns, and after voting). The transparency notice is the practical outcome—the actual label, disclosure, or information display that appears alongside or with the political advertisement.

Think of declaration obligations as the "what and when" of compliance (what information must be declared, and by what deadlines), while the transparency notice is the "how it appears" to voters (the visible label they see when encountering a political ad). Declaration obligations are enforced through audits, record-keeping reviews, and post-campaign reporting checks, whereas transparency notices are immediately visible and can be reported by any citizen who spots a missing or incorrect label.

Related Terms

Political Advertising
Sponsor
Publisher
Provider of Political Advertising Services
Transparency Notice
Targeting Techniques
Ad-Delivery Techniques
Competent Authority
Record-Keeping Requirements
Political Actor

Very transparent. Every political ad will be labelled, linked to a transparency notice with detailed information, and online ads will be searchable in a central European repository.

The Network coordinates election-related cooperation between member states. National contact points for TTPA enforcement should be members of this network where possible.

Election campaigns will need to ensure all paid advertising includes proper labels and transparency notices. Sponsors must be prepared to provide required information to all service providers.

Several major platforms currently do not allow paid political advertising, including some large social networks. This limits where political actors can place paid online advertisements.

The TTPA applies from 10 October 2025. Member States had until 10 April 2025 to designate competent authorities, and the Commission must provide label templates by 10 July 2025.

Publishers must ensure completeness and accuracy of certain information but are not required to verify all sponsor claims. They must correct manifestly erroneous information when they become aware of it.

Yes. When a hosting provider and a website both display an ad, both are considered publishers with responsibility for their specific services. Contracts should clarify how they share compliance duties.

If a publisher removes or disables access to a political ad due to illegality or terms violations, they must still provide access to the transparency information for the full seven-year retention period.