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Political advertisements in the EU carry a that says they are political and who is behind them. The label leads to a , which tells you the rest. Here is what a notice is, who has to publish it, when it has to be there and how to report an advertisement, with a fictional notice explained point by point.
What a transparency notice is
Regulation (EU) 2024/900 on the transparency and targeting of political advertising requires the publisher to make each political advertisement available with a label (Article 11(1)). The last item on that label is the notice itself, or where to find it.
Reg. 2024/900 Art. 11(1)(e)
a transparency notice containing the information referred to in Article 12(1), or a clear indication of where it can be easily and directly retrieved.
Where a label points to the notice with a web link or a QR code, it must lead directly to the notice (Impl. Reg. 2025/1410, Annex I, section 1, point 6).
What it holds
Article 12(1) lists what every notice includes. In plain words:
- (a) who the sponsor is and, where there is one, the entity that ultimately controls it, with their name and email address, their postal address where made public and, for an organisation, the address where it is established
- (b) the same details for whoever pays for the advertisement, when that is not the sponsor or its controlling entity
- (c) the period the advertisement is intended to run
- (d) the total amounts and the total value of other benefits received for the advertisement by those who provide political advertising services, the publisher included, and where relevant for the whole campaign
- (e) whether those amounts and benefits come from public or private sources, and from inside or outside the EU
- (f) how the amounts and values were calculated
- (g) where applicable, the elections, referendums, or legislative or regulatory processes the advertisement is linked to
- (h) for an advertisement linked to an election or a referendum, links to official information on how to take part in it
- (i) where applicable, links to the for online political advertisements
- (j) how to tell the publisher that the advertisement does not comply with the rules
- (k) where applicable, whether an earlier publication of the advertisement, or of an earlier version of it, was suspended or discontinued for breaking the Regulation
- (l) where applicable, a statement that targeting or ad-delivery techniques based on personal data were used, with information on the logic and main parameters behind them and on how to exercise your data protection rights (Article 19(1), points (c) and (e))
- (m) where applicable and technically feasible, how many times the advertisement was viewed and engaged with
Commission sets the format of the notice in its Annex I, the template in its Annex II and the technical specifications in its Annex III, and every notice must comply with all three (Article 1(2)). The template in Annex II sets the information out as 16 numbered points, which is how a notice on PolAds is laid out. Both Regulations have applied since 10 October 2025 (Article 30(2) of Regulation 2024/900 and Article 2 of Implementing Regulation 2025/1410).
A fictional notice, point by point
Here is a complete notice for an invented online advertisement, drawn the way a notice is drawn on PolAds. Example Party, Example Holding, Example Daily and every address, amount and link in it are made up. Under each point you see the Article it rests on and what the point tells you.
Fictional exampleEvery name, address, amount and link on this notice is invented.
TRANSPARENCY NOTICE
EU Regulation 2024/900 · Implementing Regulation 2025/1410
Medium: Online advertising
Cleaner parks for Exampletown
Vote on 16 May for more trees and safer playgrounds.
Point 1: The sponsor
Art. 12(1)(a)- Name
- Example Party
- contact@example.org
- Address
- Example Street 1, 1000 Exampletown
- Specific sponsor kind
- Political party or movement
What it tells you: The person or organisation the advertisement is made for or on behalf of, and how to reach them.
Point 2: The entity ultimately controlling the sponsor
Art. 12(1)(a)- Name
- Example Holding
- info@example.com
- Address
- Example Road 2, 1000 Exampletown
What it tells you: Whether another person or organisation ultimately controls the sponsor, and if so who.
Point 3: The entity paying for the political advertisement
Art. 12(1)(b)The sponsor (point 1) is the entity paying for this political advertisement.
What it tells you: Who pays for the advertisement, when that is someone other than the sponsor or the entity controlling it.
Point 4: Publication period
Art. 12(1)(c)- Start date
- 01/05/2027
- End date
- 14/05/2027
What it tells you: The days the advertisement is intended to run, from the first to the last.
Point 5: Total amount for the political advertisement
Art. 12(1)(d)- Amount (excl. VAT)
- 10,000 EUR
- In-kind value
- 2,500 EUR · Exhibition space at a conference: 2,500 EUR (Rate-card or list price)
What it tells you: What the providers of political advertising services, the publisher among them, received for this advertisement. The 10,000 EUR includes the 2,500 EUR received in kind.
Point 6: Total amount for the political advertising campaign
Art. 12(1)(d)- Total value (excl. VAT)
- 10,000 EUR
What it tells you: The same total for the whole campaign the advertisement belongs to. Here the campaign is this one advertisement, so the figure matches point 5.
Point 7: Origin of funds
Art. 12(1)(e)- Funding sector
- Private funds
- Funding origin
- From within the EU
What it tells you: Whether the amounts and benefits came from public or private sources, and from inside or outside the EU.
Point 8: Calculation methodology
Art. 12(1)(f)Each sponsor self-reports their monetary contribution and the self-declared value of any in-kind contributions at registration.Methodology version: v1.0
What it tells you: How the amounts in points 5 and 6 were worked out.
Point 9: Linked election or initiative
Art. 12(1)(g)- Political undertaking
- Local election in Exampletown: Municipal council16 May 2027
What it tells you: The election, referendum, or legislative or regulatory process the advertisement is linked to, where there is one.
Point 10: Official information about the election
Art. 12(1)(h)- Official information about the modalities for participation in the election linked to the political advertisement
- https://www.example.org/vote
What it tells you: Where to find official information on how to take part in that election.
Point 11: European repository for online political advertisements
Art. 12(1)(i)The European Commission has not yet officially deployed the European repository for online political advertisements. A link will be published here from the date of its official deployment.
What it tells you: For an online advertisement, a link to it in the European repository. Until the Commission officially deploys the repository, the notice says so instead.
Point 12: Reporting of political advertisements
Art. 12(1)(j)If you wish to report this advertisement, submit a complaint using the form on this page.
What it tells you: How to tell the publisher that you think the advertisement breaks the rules.
Point 13: Previous suspension or discontinuation
Art. 12(1)(k)No previous publication of this political advertisement, or of an earlier version of it, has been suspended or discontinued for an infringement of Regulation (EU) 2024/900.
What it tells you: Whether an earlier publication of the advertisement, or of an earlier version of it, was suspended or discontinued for breaking the rules.
Point 14: Use of targeting and advertisement delivery techniques
Art. 12(1)(l)- Targeting techniques used
- No
- Ad-delivery techniques used
- No
- Uses special data categories
- No
What it tells you: Whether personal data was used to decide who sees the advertisement, or to show it more widely.
Point 15: Information on targeting and advertisement delivery techniques
Art. 12(1)(l) and (m)No targeting or ad-delivery techniques based on personal data were used for this advertisement.
What it tells you: If it was, who was targeted, on which personal data and why, and where possible how many views and engagements it had.
Point 16: Data protection rights
Art. 12(1)(l), Art. 19(1)(e)The processing of personal data in connection with this political advertisement is subject to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR). For questions regarding your data protection rights, contact the publisher (Example Daily, privacy@example.com).
What it tells you: Who to contact about your personal data, and how to use your rights under the GDPR, such as withdrawing your consent.
The top of the notice is not one of the 16 points. It shows the medium, the title and the message of the advertisement, and its , the code PolAds gives each notice. A few things the example shows:
- Point 3 says the sponsor pays, because no one else does. If someone other than the sponsor or its controlling entity paid, point 3 would name them.
- Point 5 gives one total. The 2,500 EUR of exhibition space received in kind is part of the 10,000 EUR, not added on top, because the template asks for one total figure that includes the value of benefits in kind (Annex II, note 5).
- Point 6 gives the same total for the campaign, because in the example the campaign is this one advertisement.
- Point 11 has no link yet. The European repository is not yet officially deployed, so the notice says so instead.
- Point 15 lists no target groups and no reach figures, because no targeting was used.
A first campaign, end to end shows the same notice from the advertiser's side, with the registration step that fills each point.
Who must publish it
The does.
Reg. 2024/900 Art. 3(13)
‘political advertising publisher’ means a provider of political advertising service that publishes, delivers or disseminates political advertising through any medium
That covers newspapers, television and radio, posters and billboards, websites, online platforms, search engines and influencers alike (Guidelines C/2025/5514, section 1.3). The publisher must make each advertisement available with its label and notice (Article 11(1)) and ensure that the notice holds everything in Article 12(1). It must also ensure that this information is complete, and that the amounts, the methodology, the repository links, the reporting mechanism and the reach figures are accurate before and during publication (Article 12(2)).
The has a part too. It must provide, and ensure the accuracy of, the information for points (a), (b), (c), (e), (h) and (k) of Article 12(1), before or during the period the advertisement runs (Article 7(3)). That is who the sponsor, any controlling entity and any other payer are, the intended period, the origin of the money, the links to official election information and any earlier suspension or discontinuation.
PolAds is neither the publisher nor the sponsor. Advertisers, as PolAds calls sponsors, file their notices on PolAds, and publishers use it to check and authorise each notice before the advertisement runs. What a publisher has to do covers the rest of a publisher's duties, and do I need a transparency notice? explains when a message is political advertising in the first place.
When it must be available
Reg. 2024/900 Art. 12(3)
Transparency notices shall be included in each political advertisement or be easily retrievable at all times during the period of publication of the political advertisement.
So the notice must be there from the moment the advertisement appears, and for as long as it runs. The same paragraph asks that it is kept up to date throughout, presented in an easily accessible format and, at least when the advertisement is made available electronically, offered in a format. It must be written in the language of the advertisement, meet the accessibility requirements that apply, and be clearly visible and user friendly, in plain language (Article 12(3)). On PolAds every public notice is a web page at polads.eu followed by its PA-ID, and software can read it as JSON, XML or Markdown.
After the advertisement has run, the publisher keeps the notice, with any changes made to it, for seven years after its last publication (Article 12(4)). A micro-undertaking for which advertising is purely marginal and ancillary to its main activities does not have to (Article 12(5)). PolAds keeps every notice and its amendments for at least seven years after the notice's end date.
The European repository
Publishers that publish political advertisements online must also make each one and its notice information available in the European repository for online political advertisements no later than 72 hours after first publication (Article 13(4)). Very large online platforms and very large online search engines follow Article 13(2) instead.
That obligation only becomes relevant once the repository is deployed (Guidelines C/2025/5514, section 3.3.2). The Commission opened a pilot for voluntary use on 12 October 2026, and nothing is owed before the official deployment. From then, PolAds will submit the notices of its publishers' online advertisements to the repository for them. The duty, and the accuracy of what is sent, stays with the publisher. The European repository is open explains what the repository holds and how PolAds will submit to it.
How to report an advertisement
If you think a political advertisement breaks the rules, tell its publisher.
Reg. 2024/900 Art. 15(1)
Political advertising publishers shall have in place the necessary mechanisms to enable natural or legal persons to notify them if a particular political advertisement that they have published does not comply with this Regulation.
Reporting is free. The mechanism must be free of charge, user-friendly and easy to access, including from the transparency notice (Article 15(2)), and point 12 of every notice says how to use it (Article 12(1)(j)).
On PolAds, open the notice from the advertisement's label or by searching the register, then follow the link at point 12 to the complaint form. Your report goes to the publisher of the advertisement. For what happens after you report, and for the competent authorities, see how do I report a political ad?
Sources
- European Commission news, 12 October 2026
- Reg. (EU) 2024/900, Article 3(13)
- Reg. (EU) 2024/900, Article 7(3)
- Reg. (EU) 2024/900, Article 11(1)
- Reg. (EU) 2024/900, Article 12(1) to 12(5)
- Reg. (EU) 2024/900, Article 13(2) and 13(4)
- Reg. (EU) 2024/900, Article 15(1) and 15(2)
- Reg. (EU) 2024/900, Article 19(1)
- Reg. (EU) 2024/900, Article 30(2)
- Impl. Reg. (EU) 2025/1410, Article 1(2)
- Impl. Reg. (EU) 2025/1410, Article 2
- Impl. Reg. (EU) 2025/1410, Annex I, section 1, point 6
- Impl. Reg. (EU) 2025/1410, Annex II, the template and note 5
- Commission Guidelines C/2025/5514, section 1.3
- Commission Guidelines C/2025/5514, section 3.3.2
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