Individual Private Rights of Action under the Platform-to-Business Regulation

Abstract

This article explores the availability of individual private rights of action under the Platform-to-Business Regulation. It is argued that Member States are required to provide for such remedies for the benefit of business users of online intermediation services and corporate website users. Individual rights of action are necessary, first, to ensure an adequate and effective level of overall enforcement and, second, to effectuate the implicit rights that must be inferred from the obligations the Regulation imposes on providers of online intermediation services and search engines. To make this case, we illustrate the practical relevance and deficiencies of individual rights of action using several German court cases; examine the key elements of the Regulation’s ‘visible’ enforcement architecture; apply the ECJ’s case lines on implicit individual rights and private rights of action as a non-specified enforcement tool; and provide an analysis of the potential added value and perceived weaknesses of individual rights of action as a mechanism to enforce the Regulation. Platform-to-business regulation 2019/1150, private enforcement, individual rights of action, online intermediation services, online search engines, amazon marketplace, platform economy, choice-of-court agreements, principle of effectiveness