EU DSA Article 21 - Out-of-court dispute settlement
Provide access to certified out-of-court redress, participate in good faith and apply Article 21(5) cost rules without treating the outcome as binding
Where this comes from
Provision: Article 21 - Out-of-court dispute settlement
Instrument: EU Digital Services Act (Regulation 2022/2065)
Citation: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Article 21
Text version: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Article 21(1), (2), (4), (5), checked 2026-09-06
Checked against the source: 6 September 2026
Who it applies to
It applies when all of these are true:
- Service is an online platform
- Service has users in the European Union
What engineering work it implies
Sample acceptance criteria Landfall generates for this obligation:
- The Article 19 scope assessment is recorded, including micro/small-enterprise, transition and designated-VLOP treatment
- Clear, accessible interface information lets recipients select a certified body; using this route does not require giving up access to court
- Staff support good-faith participation and document any refusal based on the same information and grounds having already been resolved
- Outcomes are recorded for review and voluntary resolution; the body cannot impose a binding settlement
- A recipient-favouring outcome pays all body fees and reimburses reasonable recipient expenses under Article 21(5)
Questions people ask
- Does EU DSA Article 21 - Out-of-court dispute settlement apply to my service?
- It applies when Service is an online platform; Service has users in the European Union.
- From when does this apply?
- EU DSA Article 21 - Out-of-court dispute settlement applies from 17 February 2024. Its current status is: in force.
Find out whether this one lands on you
Landfall's pre-scan answers the applicability question above for your product in minutes, then turns every obligation that applies into traceable engineering tickets with a citation chain your auditors can follow.
Not legal advice. Landfall maps regulatory obligations to engineering work for planning purposes. Its verdicts are not legal advice and create no attorney-client relationship — verify with qualified counsel before relying on them.