The View from Brussels #186

Highlights from the Past Week

CW 44 / Monday, 1 to Friday, 5 November: Green Week (no meetings);

DIGITAL SERVICES ACT I – COUNCIL WITH NEW COMPROMISE: In its most recent compromise (PDF), dated from 29 October, the Slovenian EU Presidency has taken up the French proposal to give the Commission responsibility for monitoring and sanctioning the systemic obligations of very large platforms. “To that end, the Commission may draw on the expertise and capabilities to be made available by the Member States”, is spelt out in Article 49a of the compromise. The Commission may also draw on this expertise from the Observatory on the Online Platform Economy, European agencies, civil society and the industry.

The compromise is on the agenda of the Council’s Internal Market Working Party for 8 November, and may also be adopted by the COREPER ambassadors on 17 November, and by ministers in the Council on 25 November.

DIGITAL SERVICES ACT II – FACT CHECKERS AND EXPERTS CALL FOR REJECTION OF MEDIA EXEMPTION: Forty-five journalists and disinformation experts have sent an open letter to the European Parliament calling for the rejection of media exemptions in the DSA. In a joint letter, the signatories argue that banning social media from moderating content posted by media organisations would “reverse years of progress in the fight against hate speech and disinformation online”. They also advocate a “focus on strengthening the transparency, data scrutiny and enforcement provisions of the DSA”.

DIGITAL MARKETS ACT – LATEST COUNCIL PROPOSAL: Last Friday, the Slovenian Presidency sent a new version of its proposal on the DMA (PDF) to the Member States. This is addressed to the Permanent Representatives, with the aim of deciding on a general approach at the Council meeting on 25 November.

EPRIVACY – CURRENT STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS: Politico Pro ( has published a 4-column document (PDF) outlining the current status of the negotiations in the trilogue on ePrivacy.

According to the document, both sides agree that natural and legal persons should fall within the scope, but disagreement remains on the definition of “end user”. A similar disagreement exists on the topic of geolocation and location data, as well as on direct marketing issues.

One EU diplomat told the news portal that he was “sceptical of Slovenia’s ability to make progress on the talks”, saying that “some of the larger issues will have to be dealt with by the French, who take over the presidency in January”.

The next round of negotiations is to take place on 18 November.

COOKIE BANNER – IAB SYSTEM INFRINGING GDPR: IAB Europe reports that it has been informed by the Belgian Data Protection Authority that its consent process for tracking cookies purportedly infringes the General Data Protection Regulation.

The Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) was introduced in 2018 and was intended to allow the industry to obtain user consent for tracking for advertising purposes in a privacy-compliant manner. The procedure is used by a large proportion of websites in Europe. (see IAB press release)

DATA ACT – IMPACT ASSESSMENT LEAKED: Euractiv and Contexte (FR, paywall) have provided a report from the draft impact assessment (PDF) transferred by the Commission to the Regulatory Scrutiny Board which, in turn, led it to issuing a negative opinion. The Commission is considering obliging companies to share certain data with the public sector (B2G, “business to government”) “only (for) the most pressing social needs, where other means of accessing data are not available”, including exceptional circumstances, environmental protection and public health.

As far as access to data by businesses (B2B) and consumers (B2C) is concerned, the draft impact assessment stresses that the Data Act aims to establish general conditions that can be specified in sectoral legislation. A dispute resolution mechanism is also included in the plans. The plan to provide access to supply chain data, on the other hand, is not taken on board. Finally, the Commission wants to support migration between cloud providers through a standardisation framework that sets out minimal functionalities.

INTEROPERABILITY – GERMAN FEDERAL COMPETITION AUTHORITY PRESENTS INTERIM REPORT: The Bundeskartellamt (the German federal competition authority) has published an interim report on its sector enquiry into messenger and video services entitled “Branchenüberblick und Stimmungsbild Interoperabilität” (“Industry Overview and Opinion on Interoperability”).

With this publication, the Bundeskartellamt aims to provide an overview of the framework conditions of the industry as well as the different provider groups, functionalities and business models. In addition, the results of a survey of more than 40 different service providers on the subject of interoperability are presented and an initial legal, technical and scientific classification has been undertaken. The goal is to present a final report with concrete recommendations for action next year.

The interim conclusion of the Bundeskartellamt is that the analysis has shown that the “interrelationships concerning the topic of interoperability are multi-layered and complex”. (see press release – DE)

CSAM – MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON PREVENTING AND INVESTIGATING CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: A high-level conference organised by the Slovenian EU Council Presidency will commit participating states to finding “appropriate solutions regarding data retention, encryption, electronic evidence and the darknet” in the name of combatting child sexual abuse. This is according to a document (PDF) leaked by Statewatch, which was transferred to the Permanent Representatives at the end of October and contains the draft joint declaration.

COPYRIGHT – IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DSM DIRECTIVE IN SPAIN AND ITALY: The Spanish government announced that it has confirmed a Royal Decree-law (ES, PDF) for the transposition of the EU Copyright Directive. This is intended to allow online news platforms to negotiate directly with content providers in the future. With this decree, the door is being opened for the return of services such as Google News, which were shut out in 2014 due to the introduction of collective licensing fees. (see Euractiv, and IPKat)

Italy is now also in the final stages of transposition. In the next few days, the legislative decree adopted by the Council of Ministers last week will be published in the Italian Official Gazette (Gazzetta Ufficiale). With regard to Art. 17 of the DSM Directive, Italy has opted for an ex ante blocking of content. In the case of press publishers’ performance protection law, the competition authority has a decisive role: it is to issue a decree on the criteria for determining compensation as well as to determine the amount in cases of dispute. (see IPKat)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – AIDA REPORT: On Tuesday, the report on AI (final draft, PDF) in a Digital Age will be presented by A. Voss (EPP) in the Select Committee. In this report, the committee calls on the EU to engage on digital issues, otherwise it risks “becoming a digital colony of China, the US and other states”. Among the specific recommendations, it advocates a “limited revision of the GDPR” that would, for example, allow the concept of “data minimisation” to be replaced by that of “data sovereignty”, and asks for a risk-based adjustment of the current liability rules. Without specifically referring to the Artificial Intelligence Act, it calls for resolving the jurisdictional conflicts that are paralysing negotiations in Parliament and recommends indicators to classify applications as “high-risk”. The committee vote is expected to take place in March and the plenary vote in May 2022. (see Contexte, paywall, FR)

Relevant Publications, including from the EP Think Tank:

• ITRE Opinion on the Digital Services Act (PDF)
• ITRE Report on NIS2 (PDF)

Outlook for the Coming Week

You can find a list of the upcoming dates of the European Parliament here.

You can find an overview of the most important dates of the Council week here, the meeting calendar here, the list of the main topics for the coming 14 days here, and an overview of the Slovenian Presidency here.

Included among these dates are:

Summit and Ministry Meetings:

• Economic and Financial Affairs Council, Tuesday, 9 November – Agenda, A Items;
• Foreign Affairs Council (Trade), Thursday, 11 November – Agenda;
• Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Budget), Friday, 12 November – Agenda;

Preparatory Bodies:

• Working Party on Competition (incl. DMA), Monday, 8 and Thursday, 11 November;
• Working Party on Competitiveness and Growth (Internal Market) (incl. DSA), Monday, 8 and Friday, 12 November;
• Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues, Monday, 8, Wednesday, 10 and Friday, 12 November;
• Working Party on Telecommunications and Information Society (incl. ePrivacy, AI), Tuesday, 9 November;
• Working Party on Consumer Protection and Information, Thursday, 11 November;
• Working Party on Cooperation in Criminal Matters (COPEN), Friday, 12 November;
• Horizontal Working Party on Hybrid Threats, Friday, 12 November;
• COREPER I (incl. DMA), Wednesday, 10 November and Friday, 12 November;
• COREPER II, Wednesday, 10 November;

Information about the weekly Commission meeting can be found in the preview (PDF) or (at short notice) in the current agenda. Topics of particular relevance include the Global Gateway Initiative on Connectivity (17 November), as well as the “Security and Justice in the Digital World” package (both of which are scheduled for 1 December). On the other hand, the proposal for effectively combatting child abuse content (CSAM) and the Data Act have been deferred, according to current information.

The following topic is scheduled for the coming week:

• Presentation of the strategic compass

You can find the judicial calendar of the ECJ here. The ruling on the Google Shopping proceeding (T-612/17) is scheduled for Wednesday morning, while on 18 November, the opinions are expected on the joint proceedings of SpaceNet (C-793/19) and Telekom Deutschland (C-794/19) on data retention.

 

European Parliament Committees

CW 45 / Monday, 8 to Thursday, 11 November: Mini-Plenary Sessions Week (Brussels);

LIBE Committee (EP)

Current Meetings

• Tuesday, 9 November 2021, 9.00-12.00, 13.45-15.45 and 16.45-18.45 (Brussels)

Excerpt from the Draft Agenda

…

9 November 2021, 9.50 – 10.30

7. Study of the Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs Directorate-General for Internal Policies: Exchanges of Personal Data After the Schrems II Judgment

LIBE/9/07558

• Presentation of the study

…

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Monday, 29 November 2021, 16.45-18.45 (Brussels)
• Tuesday, 30 November 2021, 9.00-12.00 and 13.45-15.45 (Brussels)

JURI Committee (EP)

Current Meetings

• None

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Monday, 15 November (Brussels)
• Thursday, 18 November (Brussels)

Dossiers Timetable (15 October 2021)

 

ITRE Committee (EP)

Current Meetings

• Tuesday, 9 November 2021, 13.45-15.45 (Brussels)
• Thursday, 11 November 2021, 13.45-15.45 (Brussels)

Excerpt from the Draft Agenda

Tuesday 9 November 2021, 13.45 – 15.45

…

5. European data governance (Data Governance Act)

ITRE/9/04735

***I 2020/0340(COD) COM(2020)0767 – C9-0377/2020

 

Rapporteur:
	Angelika Niebler (PPE)
Responsible:
	ITRE*
Opinions:
	IMCO	Sandro Gozi (Renew)	AD – PE691.362v02-00 AM – PE692.940v01-00
	JURI	Karen Melchior (Renew)	AD – PE693.557v02-00 AM – PE693.761v01-00
	LIBE*	Sergey Lagodinsky (Verts/ALE)	AD – PE692.728v03-00 AM – PE693.715v01-00

• Reporting back to committee on the negotiations (Rule 74(3))

6. Roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union (recast)

ITRE/9/05477

***I 2021/0045(COD) COM(2021)0085 – C9-0085/2021

 

Rapporteur:
	Angelika Winzig (PPE)
Responsible:
	ITRE*
Opinions:
	IMCO*	Róża Thun und Hohenstein (PPE)	AD – PE692.718v02-00 AM – PE692.867v01-00
	JURI (AR)

• Reporting back to committee on the negotiations (Rule 74(3))

Public hearing

7. The energy aspects of the Fit for 55 package

…

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Tuesday, 30 November 2021 (Brussels)

Dossiers Timetable (27 October 2021)

 

IMCO Committee (EP)

Current Meetings

• Monday, 8 November 2021, 13.45-16.15 and 16.45-19.30 (Brussels)

Excerpt from the Draft Agenda

…

8 November 2021, 16.45 – 19.30

Public hearing (in association with ITRE, JURI, LIBE, INGE and AIDA committees)

8. Whistle-blower’s testimony on the negative impact of big tech companies’ products on users

…

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Wednesday, 1 December 2021, 9.30-12.30 and 13.45-15.45 (Brussels)

Dossiers Timetable (September 2021)

 

CULT Committee (EP)

Current Meetings

• None

Current Meetings (Calendar)

• Monday, 15November 2021 (Brussels)
• Wednesday/Thursday, 1/2 December 2021 (Brussels)

 

AIDA Committee (EP) – Special Committee on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age

Current Meetings

• Monday, 8 November 2021, 13.45-16.00 and 16.30-18.45 (Brussels)
• Tuesday, 9 November 2021, 9.00-11.00

Excerpt from the Draft Agenda

Monday, 8 November 2021, 13.45 – 16.00

…

3. Interparliamentary Committee Meeting on “Artificial Intelligence and the Digital Decade”

AIDA/9/07512

…

Tuesday, 9 November 2021, 9.00 – 11.00

…

4. Report on Artificial Intelligence in a Digital Age

AIDA/9/04886

2020/2266(INI)

 

Responsible:
	AIDA

• Consideration of draft report

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Tuesday, 30 November 2021 (Brussels)

Overview of the Hearings

 

INGE (EP) – Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation

Current Meetings

• Tuesday, 9 November 2021, 13.45-15.45 and 16.15-18.15 (Brussels)

Excerpt from the Draft Agenda

9 November 2021, 13.45 – 15.45

…

3. Foreign interference in all democratic processes in the European Union, including disinformation

INGE/9/04888

2020/2268(INI)

 

Rapporteur:
	Sandra Kalniete (PPE)		PR – PE695.147v02-00 DT – PE662.140v01-00 DT – PE689.654v02-00 DT – PE693.600v01-00 DT – PE691.420v03-00
Responsible:
	INGE

• Consideration of draft report

9 November 2021, 16.15 – 18.15

4. Responding to Foreign Interference in Cooperation with Like-Minded Democracies

…

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Open

Overview of the Hearings

 

Further Scheduled Parliamentary Calendar Dates

• CW 46 / Monday, 15 to Thursday, 18 November: Political Group and Committee Meetings Week (Brussels);
• CW 47 / Monday, 22 to Thursday, 25 November: Plenary Sessions Week (Strasbourg);
• CW 48 / Monday, 29 November to Thursday, 2 December: Committee Meetings Week (Brussels).