News, Publications and Consultations from the Past Week
News CW 03 (15.01.2024-21.01.2024)
Artificial intelligence: Negotiations on the international agreement on artificial intelligence currently underway in the Council of Europe have come to a standstill. The USA, which is participating as an observer country, was pushing for exempting companies by default, leaving it up to the signatory countries to decide whether to “opt-in” the private sector. The EU Commission, on the other hand, is striving for an “AI Convention”, which is similar to the EU AI Act from the area of application. The Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law is the first of its kind and is facing crunch time. The current plan is to finalise it by March, with the view of adopting it at the ministerial level in May (Euractiv).
Music streaming: In a resolution adopted on 17 January 2024 by 532 votes to 61 and 33 abstentions, MEPs call for a new EU legal framework for music streaming services. The “pre-digital royalty rates” currently applied must be revised, MEPs say, condemning the existence of systems such as so-called “payola systems”, which force authors to accept lower or no revenue in exchange for more visibility. MEPs also call for greater visibility for European artists (EP).
Selected Publications from the EP Think Tank:
- Personal data protection
- Energy efficiency
- United States approach to artificial intelligence
- Improving the working conditions of platform workers
Ongoing Relevant European Commission Consultations
- Report on the General Data Protection Regulation (until02.2024)
- Product safety – interoperable interface of the Safety Gate Portal (until02.2024)
Selections of the CW 04 (22.01.2024-28.01.2024)
Council:
The current preview of the Council’s work for the upcoming days until 04.02.2024 can be found here.
Summit and Ministerial Meetings:
- No Council meetings (of relevance to the Internet industry) are taking place this week.
Preparatory Bodies:
- Audiovisual Working Party, 01.2024, Agenda
- JHA COUNSELLORS, 01.2024, Agenda
- WP on Information Exchange and Data Protection (DAPIX), 01.2024, Agenda
- Coreper I, 01.2024
- Coreper II, 01.2024
- WP on Information Exchange and Data Protection (DAPIX), 01.2024, Agenda
- Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues, 01.2024
- WP on Telecommunications and Information Society, 01.2024
- JHA COUNSELLORS, 01.2024
- Coreper I, 01.2024
- Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues, 01.2024
- Horizontal Working Party on Cyber Issues, 01.2024
- JHA COUNSELLORS, 01.2024
An overview of the various Council dates can be found here.
Commission:
The agenda of the current Commission meeting was not available at our time of writing. You can potentially find it on the Commission’s website in the near future.
Parliament:
Plenary Sittings (Sitting Week in Strasbourg)
This week, there are no European Parliament plenary sittings.
Here you can find a list of the upcoming dates of the European Parliament. The calendar of the plenary sittings for 2024 is available here.
Committees
LIBE Committee (Civil Liberties)
The agenda for the current meeting of the LIBE Committee taking place on 22.01.2024 can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda items are relevant:
- Harmonised rules on Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act) and amending certain Union Legislative Acts, 2021/0106(COD)
- Amending Council Decision 2009/917/JHA, as regards its alignment with Union rules on the protection of personal data, 2023/0143(COD)
JURI Committee (Legal Affairs)
The agenda of the current JURI Committee meeting on 24.01.2024 was not available at our time of writing.
The current timetables of the JURI Committee (as of 30.11.2023) can be found here.
ITRE Committee (Industry)
The agenda for the current meeting of the ITRE Committee taking place on 22.01.2024 and 23.01.2024 can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda items are relevant:
- Establishing a framework of measures for strengthening Europe’s net-zero technology products manufacturing ecosystem (Net Zero Industry Act), 2023/0081(COD)
- Horizontal cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements and
amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, 2022/0272(COD)
The current timetables of the ITRE Committee (as of 12.12.2023) can be found here.
IMCO Committee (Internal Market)
The agenda for the current meeting of the IMCO Committee taking place on 24.01.2024 Â can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda items are relevant:
- Harmonised rules on Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act) and amending certain Union Legislative Acts, 2021/0106(COD)
- Establishing a framework for setting ecodesign requirements for sustainable
products and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC, 2022/0095(COD)
- Transparency and targeting of political advertising, 2021/0381(COD)
The current timetables of the IMCO Committee (as of 28.11.2023) can be found here.
CULT Committee (Culture and Education)
The agenda for the current meeting of the CULT Committee taking place on 24.01.2024 can be found here. From the perspective of the Internet industry, the following agenda items are relevant:
- Establishing a common framework for media services in the internal market (European Media Freedom Act) and amending Directive 2010/13/EU, 2022/0277(COD)
Outlook:
An overview of the following session weeks can be found here. The provisional agenda for the upcoming plenary sittings can be found here.
European Court of Justice
You can find the judicial calendar of the ECJ here.
