Each Member State of the European Union must fully apply EU law. The body responsible for identifying possible violations of EU law is the European Commission. Where a Member State does not apply EU law and breaches its obligations under the EU Treaties, the European Commission may open a formal infringement procedure under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU (see details on the infringement procedure here).
Regulation (EU) 2021/784 provides a legal framework to ensure that terrorist content is removed from the internet within one hour of receipt of a removal order issued by a competent national authority and obliges companies to take specific measures when their platforms are exposed to such content. At the same time, it introduces strict safeguards to ensure full respect for freedom of expression and information. As stated in the January Infringement Package, ensuring full implementation of the Regulation is fundamental to prevent the abuse of the internet by terrorists for the purpose of spreading their ideology, intimidation, radicalisation and online recruitment. According to the Commission, Greece, among other Member States, has not adopted all the necessary measures provided for in the Regulation and has therefore decided to open an infringement procedure by sending a letter of formal notice to the country.
More information on this procedure can be found in the press release and on the European Commission’s website, by entering INFR(2022)2118 in the “Infringement number” field.
The application of EU law is an obligation of the Member States of the European Union. If infringements of EU law are identified, the European Commission may take a series of actions against the Member State concerned to ensure the correct and full application of EU law by opening infringement proceedings under Articles 258 and 260 TFEU.
In this case, the Commission has decided to send a letter of formal notice to Greece for failing to fully comply with its obligations under Regulation (EU) 2021/784 (on the prevention of the dissemination of terrorist content on the internet).
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