Lobbying by Federation of European Data and Marketing

Federation of European Data and Marketing

FEDMA

FEDMA represents the European data and marketing industry to promote ethical standards and innovation.

Focus Areas

2024-2025

2022-2024

2015-2022

Links

Website Transparency Register Profile

ID: 39300567160-02

Lobbying Activity

FEDMA urges EU to use existing laws for digital fairness

22 Oct 2025

Topic — The EU is evaluating rules to tackle unfair practices like dark patterns and addictive design.

Message — FEDMA recommends using current laws like the GDPR instead of creating new regulations. They suggest that stronger guidance would better serve businesses and consumers without adding complexity.1 2

Why — Avoiding new regulations would lower compliance costs and simplify the environment for marketing firms.3

Impact — Consumers lose the certainty of binding rules if the EU relies on non-binding guidance.4

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FEDMA urges EU to scrap ePrivacy Directive for GDPR

13 Oct 2025

Topic — The consultation seeks to simplify EU digital laws and reduce administrative burdens.

Message — FEDMA calls for repealing the ePrivacy Directive to harmonize digital privacy rules. They advocate for processing cookies under GDPR rules using legitimate interest legal grounds. They also seek to limit mandatory impact assessments for training AI models.1 2 3

Why — Marketing firms would face fewer administrative hurdles and reduced costs for digital campaigns.4 5

Impact — Digital users lose strict opt-in protections if blanket cookie consent rules are scrapped.6

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Meeting with Dimitris Tsiodras (Member of the European Parliament)

2 Jun 2025 · EU digital and consumer policies

Meeting with Aura Salla (Member of the European Parliament)

27 Mar 2025 · Digital fairness

Meeting with Marco Giorello (Head of Unit Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs and

19 Mar 2025 · Code of Conduct on Online Advertising – Workshop 4

Meeting with Egelyn Braun (Cabinet of Commissioner Michael McGrath), Maria Zafra Saura (Cabinet of Commissioner Michael McGrath)

18 Mar 2025 · Forthcoming Digital Fairness Act, data protection, simplification

Meeting with Marco Giorello (Head of Unit Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and EuroCommerce and

6 Mar 2025 · Code of Conduct on Online Advertising – Workshop 2

Meeting with Michael Mcnamara (Member of the European Parliament) and DOT Europe

5 Mar 2025 · GDPR

Meeting with Marco Giorello (Head of Unit Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and EuroCommerce and

4 Mar 2025 · Code of Conduct on Online Advertising – Workshop 1

Meeting with Rita Wezenbeek (Director Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and

11 Feb 2025 · Opening Session: DSA roundtable discussions on online advertising (Article 46 DSA)

Meeting with Sophie Wilmès (Member of the European Parliament)

29 Oct 2024 · Artificial Intelligence, Digital

FEDMA urges alignment of minor definitions in digital safety laws

30 Sept 2024

Topic — European Commission consultation on guidelines for protecting minors under the Digital Services Act.

Message — FEDMA requests that the definition of a minor under the DSA align with GDPR age thresholds. They also advocate for using self-regulatory codes and privacy-enhancing technologies.1 2

Why — Harmonized standards and state-backed tools would reduce legal uncertainty and technical implementation costs.3 4

Impact — Teens aged 16 to 18 might lose protective safeguards if they are treated as adults.5

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Meeting with Jana Toom (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

25 Oct 2023 · GDPR enforcement

FEDMA urges EU to avoid sector-specific financial marketing rules

28 Aug 2023

Topic — EU measures to improve retail investor confidence and participation in capital markets.

Message — FEDMA advocates against sector-specific marketing rules that overlap with existing horizontal laws. They recommend defining marketing standards directly in the Directive or through co-regulatory tools.1 2 3

Why — This approach ensures legislative stability and protects the industry's existing self-regulatory framework.4 5

Impact — The European Commission loses the power to quickly update marketing requirements via delegated acts.6 7

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FEDMA urges harmonised GDPR procedures to protect fair trial rights

24 Mar 2023

Topic — This initiative aims to streamline cooperation between data protection authorities in cross-border cases.

Message — FEDMA advocates for harmonised administrative procedures to protect due process and fair trial rights. They recommend a study on national law divergences and centralising procedural information for businesses. They also call for streamlining the adoption of Codes of Conduct.1 2 3

Why — This would provide companies with greater transparency and legal certainty during cross-border investigations.4

Impact — National authorities would lose the flexibility provided by their current margin of manoeuvre.5

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Meeting with Alessandra Basso (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

9 Mar 2023 · Directive on financial contracts concluded at a distance

Meeting with Alin Mituța (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

8 Sept 2022 · Data Act

Response to Digital Services Act package: ex ante regulatory instrument of very large online platforms acting as gatekeepers

1 Apr 2021

FEDMA thanks the European Commission for the opportunity to submit feedback to the “Proposal for a Regulation on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector (Digital Markets Act - DMA). We invite everyone to read our full submission in the attachment.

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Response to Digital Services Act: deepening the Internal Market and clarifying responsibilities for digital services

29 Mar 2021

FEDMA thanks the European Commission for the opportunity to submit feedback to the “Proposal for a Regulation on a Single Market for Digital Services" (Digital Services Act - DSA). We invite everyone to read our full submission in the attachment.

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FEDMA urges three-year transition for new data transfer clauses

10 Dec 2020

Topic — New EU standard contractual clauses for transferring personal data outside the European Union.

Message — FEDMA suggests extending the implementation deadline to three years to ensure a manageable transition. They request that European institutions centralize the legal assessment of foreign data protection regimes.1 2

Why — Centralized legal evaluations would lower costs by removing the need for expensive legal expertise.3

Impact — Data subjects lose transparency if requirements for sub-processors to notify further appointments are removed.4

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Response to Requirements for Artificial Intelligence

10 Sept 2020

FEDMA previously answered the consultation on the white paper on AI. We would like to share the below insights: • The work of the High-Level Expert Group on criteria for risk assessment and the feedback that they are receiving from the industry should be considered. • Self-learning systems are not new nor is information gathering for a better more objective decision process (e.g. bank loan; better information might often help to get the loan). AI is simply an optimization of both. • If personal data is involved, Art 22 GDPR covers the data protection issues. • It is of the utmost importance that the GDPR be implemented in a fair and balanced manner. Indeed, legitimate interest and pseudonymization are key GDPR tools for companies to use AI (e.g. cleaning a contact list with a Robinson list). When the industry relies on legitimate interest for processing of personal data, the controller must do a legitimate interest assessment test in 3 steps: (a) is the purpose of the processing legitimate? (b) is the processing necessary? (c) do the interests of the controller override the rights and freedoms of the individual? Currently, legitimate interest is a legal basis which is under growing pressure and the EDPB has started the discussions on guidelines for LI. If the right balance is not met between consent and LI, then many industry sectors, such as data marketing, will disappear or will not be able to use AI, leaving behind a less competitive market dominant by large tech intermediaries. • FEDMA previously referred to the EUTA High Level Principles on AI. In line with those principles, we have strong reservations about extending legal requirements to all AI applications. As the majority of AI day-to-day applications today are low risk, we urge the EU institutions to conduct a thorough assessment of the existing legislation, especially the civil liability regime, before introducing any new proposals specifically targeting AI-driven technologies and applications. Regarding the possibility of new risk assessment being imposed upon businesses to define whether they are using low or high risk AI applications, we encourage the European Commission to provide a framework for internal risks assessments for low-risk applications, and thoroughly assess who would be responsible for leading external risk assessments for high-risks applications. Indeed, it is likely that external auditors or agencies will need to gain access to sensitive personal data under GDPR to assess the fairness or degree of risk carried out by one AI system Checking the fairness or risks level in any algorithm will necessarily require the use of particularly sensitive data under GDPR, such as those related to sex, ethnicity, age, religion, etc. Soft law and voluntary labelling should be preferred to new regulations where feasible, as they create only marginal administrative burden where binding requirements could create further red tape for EU businesses. At the same time, providing a harmonised EU framework would reduce compliance costs for businesses operating across the EU and avoid a plethora of conflicting AI rules. We need to ensure that the future EU framework is sufficiently flexible so that it is not outdated in a short span of time. We disagree with the Commission’s assessment that the social impact of the future AI framework will be limited, AI will have an extensive positive social impact.

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