Highlights from the Past Weeks

 

DIGITAL MARKETS AND DIGITAL SERVICES ACT – EP CONFIRMS PROPOSAL: The final vote on the new Digital Services Act (DSA) and on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) took place in Parliament in early July. The Parliament and Council had reached agreement on 24 March and 23 April respectively.

The Digital Services Act was adopted by 539 votes to 54 with 30 abstentions. The Digital Markets Act was adopted by 588 votes to 11 with 31 abstentions. (see EP press release)

While the DMA has already been adopted by the Council, the final approval for the DSA is still pending.

After their entry into force, the DMA will apply within six months and the DSA within 15 months (but not before 1 January 2024).

DIGITAL ROADMAP 2030 – TRILOGUE SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED: In mid-July, the negotiators from the Council and Parliament announced the successful conclusion of the trilogue negotiations on the “Digital Roadmap 2030”. (see EP press release) The roadmap aims in particular to

• ensure that 80% of the population aged 16-74 have at least basic digital skills,
• deploy 10,000 climate neutral highly secure edge nodes,
• bring at least 75% of European enterprises to use cloud computing services, big data and artificial intelligence,
• ensure that more than 90% of European SMEs should have reached at least a basic level of digital intensity.

The outcome of the negotiations is to be confirmed by the Industry Committee on 1 September.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE I – EUROPEAN COUNCIL: The European Commission has requested a mandate from the Council of the European Union to negotiate on behalf of the bloc of the Council of Europe Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and on fundamental rights. The timing is not ideal, as the EU AI Act is itself still in the middle of negotiations. Therefore, the Commission’s mandate is likely to be vague and Brussels may be tempted to buy time as it gets its act together.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE II – VOTE IN EP LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE OPEN: Following a last-minute spat before the summer break, it is still unclear when the JURI (Legal Affairs Committee) opinion on the AI Act will be voted upon. JURI has a technical meeting scheduled for Monday, after which things should become much clearer. (see Euractiv)

DATA ACT I – NEW TIMELINE IN THE EU PARLIAMENT: As the competency dispute on the Data Act was put to rest before the summer break, a new timeline is now circulating. The public hearing on the draft report is expected on 8 September, followed by the consideration on 26 September. The deadline for amendments in the lead ITRE committee is set for 17 October, with the committee vote expected by February and the plenary vote by March. However, the draft report might still be further delayed since the final decision on the competencies arrived late in July. (see Euractiv)

DATA ACT II – NEW COUNCIL PRESIDENCY COMPROMISE PROPOSAL: The EU Council’s Working Party on Telecommunications will resume its discussions on the Data Act on Monday 5 September. The Czech Presidency, which has made this dossier one of its priorities, circulated a second compromise proposal (PDF) at the beginning of August. The planned amendments address the provisions on the transfer of data from companies to public authorities (Chapters V and I).

First of all, it is proposed to clarify the circumstances that may justify such transfers: Prague talks about “public health emergencies, emergencies resulting from natural disasters, as well as human-induced major disasters, such as major cybersecurity incidents”. What has also been clarified are the requirements that public bodies must meet, the safeguards against the re-use of data and the provisions to protect the anonymity of personal data. Prague also wants to discuss a possible reduction in the number of public authorities that can request this data – a revision inspired by the recommendations of the European NRA, according to the Presidency. (see Contexte, FR, paywall)

EIDAS – NEW COMPROMISE PROPOSAL OF THE COUNCIL PRESIDENCY: The Czech Council Presidency has also submitted a new proposal (PDF) on the eIDAS Regulation, which will be discussed in the Working Party on Telecommunications on 5 September.

According to the third compromise on the European framework for digital identity, competent authorities for the NIS2 Directive, which is close to adoption, will have to justify their delay if they take more than two months to inform supervisory authorities whether trust service providers meet cybersecurity requirements. It proposes that only top-level identifiers should be verified by a trust service provider. Member States must provide services that rely on the European digital wallet with an efficient and risk-free way to register. These will have to notify “without delay” any change in the information they report. In contrast, those whose solution is completely offline will be exempt from this obligation. Third countries will have to establish and maintain a list of trust service providers. (see Contexte, FR, paywall)

CSAM – COMMISSION PUBLISHES TRANSLATION, DATA PROTECTORS’ CRITICISM: The European Commission has now published all translations to its proposal for a CSAM Regulation. The final day of consultation is now set for 12 September.

The CSAM proposal, meanwhile, has been criticised by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS): “The EDPB and the EDPS consider that the Proposal, in its current form, may present more risks to individuals, and, by extension, to society at large, than to the criminals pursued for CSAM.” (see EDPB/EDPS press release)

On the other side (of the channel and opinion scale), so-called “client-side scanning” for CSAM stored on users’ phones is supported by GCHQ, the UK’s communications intelligence agency, and its National Cyber Security Centre in a blog post. (see The Guardian)

FAIR SHARE – BEGINNING OF CONSULTATION OPENS FURTHER: The Commission has made it clear in its response to MEPs concerned about net neutrality that the principle of “fair cost sharing” will not be introduced via the Connectivity Infrastructure Act. A public consultation on how high-volume services should share the cost of Internet infrastructure has been announced, and the BEREC study to be published in October will also feed into the proposal. (see Politico Pro, paywall)

Fifty-four MEPs and seven EU Member States, meanwhile, raised concerns about the platforms’ contribution to funding the networks. (see the open letter – PDF and Bloomberg)

SECURE 5G – EU COMMISSION CONSULTATION: The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the preliminary opinion on scientific evidence on radio frequency. In its opinion, the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) has not identified any health risks associated with mobile networks such as 5G. The consultation will run until 25 September.

FUTURE OF ONLINE PLATFORMS – COMMISSION LAUNCHES RESEARCH STUDY: The European Commission has launched a call for tenders for a two-year participatory foresight on the future of online platforms. The deadline for submissions is 22 September.

EUROPEAN MEDIA PLATFORMS – COMMISSION LAUNCHES CALL FOR PROJECTS: The Commission has launched a new €6 million call for proposals to set up European media platform projects, aiming to improve EU citizens’ access to trusted information across the European Union. The deadline for submissions is 17 October.

RT/SPUTNIK – GERMAN FEDERAL NETWORK AGENCY REDUCES LIST: The German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) has recently adapted its information on the blocking of RT and Sputnik related websites:

[…] we inform you that, according to the information available to us, the content prohibited by the EU Sanctions Regulation (EU) 2022/879 can no longer be found on the following websites:

– coolstreaming.us

– russian-tv-television.us

In this respect, the exceptional circumstances of Article 3(3)(a) of the TSM Regulation no longer apply to these websites.

Blockings of Internet content that have been carried out must therefore be lifted again, as otherwise there is a violation of the principle of equal treatment under net neutrality law.

Relevant Publications, including from the EP Think Tank:

• Strengthening EU chip capabilities: How will the chips act reinforce Europe’s semiconductor sector by 2030? (Briefing)
• Towards new rules on transparency and targeting of political advertising (Briefing)
• Governing data and artificial intelligence for all: Models for sustainable and just data governance (Study)
• ‘Splinternets’: Addressing the renewed debate on Internet fragmentation
• The EU chips act: Securing Europe’s supply of semiconductors (Briefing)
• A common charger for electronic devices: Revision of the Radio Equipment Directive (Briefing)
• Data Act (Briefing)
• Ethical and societal challenges of the approaching technological storm (Study)
• Auditing the quality of datasets used in algorithmic decision-making systems (Study)
• The way forward for better regulation in the EU – better focus, synergies, data and technology (In-Depth Analysis)
• New technologies and new digital solutions for improved safety of products on the internal market (At a Glance)
• European Chips Survey (Study)

Outlook for the Current Week

 

You can find a list of the upcoming dates of the European Parliament here.The meeting calendar for 2022 can be found here (PDF).

An overview of the most important dates of the Council week can be found here and the meeting calendar can be accessed here.

Included among these dates are:

Summits and Ministerial Meetings:

• Informal Meeting of Defence Ministers, Monday, 29 and Tuesday, 30 August;
• Informal Meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers, Tuesday, 30 and Wednesday, 31 August;
• Informal Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Cohesion Policy, Thursday, 1 and Friday, 2 September;

Preparatory Bodies:

• Working Party on Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters (COPEN), Friday, 2 September;

Information on the weekly Commission Meeting can be found in the preview (PDF) or (at short notice) in the current agenda.

The next meeting will take place on 7 September.

You can find the judicial calendar of the ECJ here. There are no hearings this week, but three dates in September are dedicated to the GDPR (see GDPR Beetle):

• On 8 September, an Attorney General will issue a non-binding opinion on Articles 77 and 79 (right to complain and lodge a complaint) of the GDPR (C-132/21).
• On 20 September, the rulings in the Spacenet data retention case (C-793/19 & C-794/19) and VD & SR (C 339/20 & C-397/20) will be delivered and the Attorney General will issue an opinion on whether the GDPR prevents the German competition authority from assessing whether Meta’s data processing is compatible with the GDPR (C-252/21).
• On 22 September, there will be another opinion by the Advocate General on Article 88 of the GDPR, concerning the question of whether national law on the protection of the processing of personal data applies when the law does not meet the requirements of Article 88 (C-34/21).

European Parliament Committees

CW 35 / Monday, 29 August to Thursday, 1 September: Committee Meetings Week (Brussels);

LIBE Committee (Civil Liberties)

Current Meetings

• None

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Monday, 5 September 2022

JURI Committee (Legal Affairs)

Current Meetings

• None

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Monday, 5 September 2022

Dossiers Timetable (17 August 2022)

 

ITRE Committee (Industry)

Current Meetings

• Thursday, 1 September 2022, 9.00-12.30 (Brussels)

Excerpt from the current agenda

The current agenda is not yet available.

The committee’s activities will include a vote on the agreement reached in the trilogue on the programme “A Path to the Digital Decade 2030”.

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Monday, 26 September 2022

Dossiers Timetable (23 August 2022)

 

IMCO Committee (Internal Market)

Current Meetings

• None

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Thursday, 8 September, 14.00-17.30 (Brussels)

Dossiers Timetable (July 2022)

 

CULT Committee (Culture)

Current Meetings

• Thursday, 1 September 2022, 9.00-12.30 (Brussels)

Excerpt from the current agenda

 

1 September 2022, 9.00 – 11.00

…

4. Transparency and targeting of political advertising

CULT/9/07877

***I 2021/0381(COD) COM(2021)0731 – C9-0433/2021

 

Rapporteur for the opinion:
	Sabine Verheyen (PPE)		PA – PE735.573v01-00
Responsible:
	IMCO*	Sandro Gozi (Renew)	PR – PE732.754v01-00

• Consideration of draft opinion

…

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Monday, 3 October 2022 (Strasbourg)

PEGA Committee (Pegasus Committee of Inquiry)

Current Meetings

• Tuesday, 30 August 2022, 9.00-12.30 and 15.00-17.00 (Brussels)

Excerpt from the current agenda

…

2. Hearing on ‘Spyware used against citizens’

3. Hearing on ‘Spyware – Victims and Remedies’

…

Further Meetings

• Thursday, 8 September 2022, 9.00-12.30 (Brussels)

INGE2 Committee (Special Committee on Foreign Interference)

Current Meetings

• Wednesday, 31 August, 17.00-18.30 (Brussels)

Excerpt from the current agenda

Chinese and Russian influence in various regions of the world

Further Meetings (Calendar)

• Thursday, 29 September 2022, 9.00-12.30 (Brussels)

Further Parliamentary Calendar Dates

• CW 36 / Monday, 5 to Thursday, 8 September: Political Group and Committee Meetings Week (Brussels);
• CW 37 / Monday, 12 to Thursday, 15 September: Plenary Sessions Week (Strasbourg);
• CW 38 / Monday, 19 to Friday, 23 September: Green Week (no meetings);