Case study: Enforcement of the P2B Regulation against an online platform based outside the EU
Further information
In February 2026, the Bundesnetzagentur successfully concluded an administrative procedure against an online platform based outside the EU for breaches of Regulation (EU) 2019/1150 (Platform-to-Business or P2B Regulation). The procedure was discontinued after the platform’s terms and conditions were amended in line with the provisions of the P2B Regulation and the platform changed its practice of notifying its business users.
In accordance with section 22(1) of the German Digital Services Act (DDG), the Bundesnetzagentur is responsible, among other things, for enforcing the P2B Regulation when online intermediation services are provided, or offered to be provided, to business users that have their place of establishment or residence in the Federal Republic of Germany and that, through those online intermediation services or online search engines, offer goods or services to consumers located in the European Union. This applies irrespective of where the online platform is based, so the Bundesnetzagentur is still responsible if the platform is from outside the EU.
The Bundesnetzagentur held a hearing for the platform in question in August 2025 following a complaint by a business user whose products had been rejected without a sufficient statement of reasons. In the course of the internal complaint-handling process, the business user had only received general answers from the platform and no comprehensible statement of reasons that could have helped the user to adjust their offer and avoid breaching the terms and conditions of the platform in future. Moreover, the platform’s terms and conditions only contained insufficient information about accessing the internal complaint-handling process and the possibility of conducting a mediation process.
Due to the Bundesnetzagentur’s hearing, the platform published various information pages on which business users with a place of establishment or residence in the EU can find comprehensive information. In accordance with Article 4(1) and (2) P2B Regulation, business users whose offers are rejected now receive a notification no later than the time of the measure taking effect explaining the specific part of the terms and conditions they have breached. If their account is terminated, the notification is sent 30 days before the measure takes effect as required by the P2B Regulation. The information pages also contain detailed explanations for business users of the out-of-court dispute settlement process, that is, access to the internal complaint-handling system under Article 11 P2B Regulation and mediation under Article 12 P2B Regulation. Business users therefore have direct information about who to turn to in the event of a dispute. This enables them to solve their problems quickly without having to take the provider to court. Both the complaints form and the relevant webpages of the mediation provider are directly provided on the online platform’s website.
This procedure is particularly important as the provider of the platform is based outside the EU. In the course of the administrative procedure and communication with the Bundesnetzagentur, the provider looked at the provisions of the P2B Regulation in detail and promptly made far-reaching changes to ensure conformity with the information and transparency requirements of the Regulation.
The changes made highlight that German business users of platforms based in and outside the EU benefit from the official enforcement of the P2B Regulation, which helps to create a fairer and more transparent online environment.
