Interested entities
An interested entity is any organisation, company, or individual that provides services to help prepare, place, promote, publish, or disseminate political advertising, or that might be affected by the transparency and targeting rules in the EU political advertising regulation. These entities include advertising agencies, platforms, influencers, data brokers, political consultancies, and media outlets that handle political ads.
Legal Basis
The term "interested entities" is used throughout Regulation 2024/900 to describe stakeholders that the regulation affects or that play a role in the political advertising ecosystem. While the regulation does not provide a single formal definition, it identifies various actors including "providers of political advertising services," "publishers," and "sponsors" who must comply with transparency and targeting obligations.
"This Regulation lays down harmonised rules on the provision of political advertising services and on the use of targeting techniques and ad-delivery techniques in the context of the promotion, publication, delivery or dissemination of political advertising."
— Article 1, Regulation 2024/900
Why It Matters
Understanding who counts as an interested entity is essential because the regulation creates obligations for everyone involved in the political advertising supply chain, not just advertisers and platforms. If you provide any service related to political advertising—from designing campaigns to analysing voter data to publishing ads—you may have transparency, record-keeping, or due diligence obligations under TTPA.
The regulation deliberately takes a broad approach to capture the entire ecosystem. This means advertising agencies, PR firms, data analytics companies, influencers who promote political content for payment, and supply-side platforms all need to assess whether they fall within scope. Even organisations that provide ancillary services, like political consultancies that advise on targeting strategies, should evaluate their role.
For businesses operating across the EU, this broad definition means compliance can be complex. A single political advertising campaign might involve multiple interested entities across different Member States, each with specific obligations depending on their role as sponsor, provider, or publisher.
Key Points
- Broad scope: Interested entities include any organisation or individual involved in preparing, placing, promoting, publishing, or disseminating political advertising
- Multiple roles: A single entity can be both a provider and publisher of political advertising services (for example, a social media platform)
- Service-based definition: The regulation focuses on what services you provide, not your business category or industry sector
- Transparency obligations: Most interested entities must ensure political ads are clearly labelled and that transparency information is available
- Cross-border considerations: Entities established outside the EU but offering services to sponsors or audiences in the EU are within scope
- Ancillary services excluded: Pure support services like printing, web hosting, or transport of materials are generally not covered
Interested entities vs. Providers of political advertising services
While "interested entities" is a broad term covering everyone potentially affected by TTPA, "providers of political advertising services" is a specific legal category with defined obligations. Not every interested entity is a provider—for example, an organisation that monitors political advertising compliance is an interested entity but not a provider.
Providers are entities that actually prepare, place, promote, publish, deliver, or disseminate political advertising for or on behalf of a sponsor. They have specific obligations under Chapter II (transparency) and, when using personal data for targeting online, Chapter III (targeting rules).
If you're an interested entity, your first task is to determine whether you're also a provider or publisher with direct regulatory obligations, or whether you're affected in another way (for example, as a technology vendor or compliance consultant).