During our two-day intensive seminar on “NIS 2: Strategies for Effective Compliance” for managers and executives, we commented on an interesting case study on “whether online stores come into scope in the context of Directive 2022/2555?”.

ANNEX II, OTHER CRITICAL SECTORS Point 6.  Digital providers (Providers of online marketplaces)

Article 6 Definitions (28) defines: ‘online marketplace’ means an online marketplace as defined in Article 2, point (n), of Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 5 );

We could not locate point (n) in Article 2 of Directive 2005/29/EU. However, we found a clear definitions of an online marketplace in Regulation (EU) 524/2013.

“online marketplace” means a service provider, as defined in point (b) of Article 2 of Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000 on certain legal aspects of information society services, in particular electronic commerce, in the Internal Market (‘Directive on electronic commerce’) (11), which allows consumers and traders to conclude online sales and service contracts on the online marketplace’s website;

Article 3 (14) Regulation (EU) 2023/988 says very similar thing:

‘provider of an online marketplace’ means a provider of an intermediary service using an online interface which allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with traders for the sale of products;

Additional similar definition found in this link:

‘online marketplace’ means a service using software, including a website, part of a website or an application, operated by or on behalf of a trader which allows consumers to conclude distance contracts with other traders or consumers;

Said simply: If you as a public online platform provide functionality to third party sellers to upload and list their products on your platform and sell them, then you come into the scope of the Annex II of 2022/2555. The missing piece is just the size of your organization related to the Article 3 (Essential and important entities)

Or in other words: Intermediary platforms for e-commerce that connects customers and sellers on a common ground for making sell contracts falls into coverage of the main Directive 2022/2555.

Of course last and not least – the jurisdiction for multinational platforms…

At first glance, it may seem complicated and confusing. However, after reviewing multiple definitions that all point to the same logical conclusion, it becomes clear.