Recital 27

(27) Consistent with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, unless specifically set out in sectorial legislation an establishment does not need to take the form of a subsidiary, branch or agency, but can consist of an office managed by an obliged entity’s own staff or by a person who is independent but authorised to act on a permanent basis for the obliged entity. According to that definition, which requires the actual pursuit of an economic activity at the place of establishment of the provider, a mere letter-box does not constitute an establishment. Equally, offices or other infrastructure used for supporting activities, such as mere back-office operations, IT-hubs or data centres operated by obliged entities, do not constitute an establishment. Conversely, activities such as the provision of crypto-asset services through ATMs constitute an establishment having regard to the limited physical equipment needed for operators that mainly service their customers through the internet, as is the case for crypto-asset service providers.

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Source: EUR-Lex CELLAR · retrieved 2026-09-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.