04.04.2022

View from Brussels #205

Highlights from the Past Week

CW 13 / Monday, 28 March to Thursday, 31 March: Group and Committee Meeting Week (Brussels);

DIGITAL SERVICES ACT – FOURTH TRILOGUE WITH PROGRESS BUT NO CONCLUSION: The French Presidency and the representatives of the Parliament have agreed ‘in principle’ on the need to introduce rules prohibiting the tracking of minors for advertising purposes as well as the use of sensitive data for targeted advertising. However, the specific wording must be found at the level of technical negotiations. The representatives of the EU Parliament are to draw up their own proposal for this.

There was also agreement that online platforms must, in future, disclose and explain the parameters they use in their algorithms to forward content to users. Very large online platforms should also allow users to view content that is not based on profiling.

Numerous other topics discussed, including so-called “dark patterns,” risk assessment and mitigation for very large online platforms, and new rules for content moderation in times of crisis, were relegated to the technical level.

Regarding the supervisory fees, the EU Commission estimates the costs at 20 to 30 million Euro, which are to be divided among the expected 20 to 30 very large online platforms.

The latest 4-column document from 30 March can be found here (PDF). Negotiators seem optimistic that an agreement can be reached in a fifth trilogue at the end of April. (see Euractiv; Politico Pro, paywall)

DIGITAL MARKETS ACT – WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AFTER THE TRILOGUE RESULT: In the European Parliament, an internal technical meeting is scheduled for 5 April to explain the next steps in detail.

After the trilogue negotiations, the wait for the official written result usually begins. An “initial consolidated release” is expected on 7 April. The political groups are to be consulted on this draft on 20 April so that the “final consolidated version” can go into translation on 25 April.

The IMCO Committee vote is scheduled to take place during the 16-17 May meeting. In plenary, the final trilogue agreement is to be placed on the agenda for the 4-7 July meeting.

On the part of the Council, an expert meeting with the Member States is scheduled for 13 June. After that, the deputy ambassadors are expected to give their approval.

CYBERSECURITY – EU INSTITUTIONS INSUFFICIENTLY PREPARED: According to a report (PDF) published this week by the European Court of Auditors, EU institutions are insufficiently prepared for the increasing number of cyberattacks. The institutions are “attractive targets” for attackers, the report says. Despite the Commission’s promise to improve institutional resilience, it is insufficient. To address the problem, measures such as introducing more binding rules, improving emergency resources and strengthening inter-institutional cooperation should be taken. (see Euractiv)

DISINFORMATION – CODE OF PRACTICE DELAYED: The finalisation of the Code of Practice on Disinformation was postponed in view of the crisis in Ukraine. More time would be needed to incorporate measures to combat disinformation related to the war. (see press release COM)

The Code is currently being revised based on feedback from a Commission review. Originally, the process was to be completed by the end of 2021 but was then extended to March 2022 and is now being postponed again.

Meanwhile, the EU Commission has published further reports on the COVID-19 disinformation monitoring program. Specifically, it discusses actions taken by Microsoft, Meta, TikTok, and Twitter in January and February 2022 to address misinformation related to the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, Microsoft has created a tracker that detects websites that publish misinformation about Covid-19. The function is active in France, Germany and Italy. In cooperation with Newsguard, 547 corresponding websites have been identified since February.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – COUNCIL OF EUROPE BEGINS WORK ON AGREEMENT: The Council of Europe’s Committee on Artificial Intelligence begins its work on binding rules for AI with a three-day meeting. By November 2023, a potentially legally binding agreement on artificial intelligence to protect democracy and human rights should be in place for 46 countries.

The Strasbourg-based human rights organisation has been working for some time on safeguards, including human rights impact assessments for the development of AI tools that would complement the European Union’s AI law. An earlier committee presented a set of recommendations for the agreement in December as a starting point for discussions. The group recommended establishing obligations for AI in law enforcement, justice, and public administration and called for a full or partial moratorium or ban on AI applications that pose an “unacceptable” risk to human rights and the rule of law, such as facial or emotion recognition and social scoring.

CONSUMER PROTECTION – EU AND US AGREE ON JOINT APPROACH: The EU and US have begun their informal dialogue on strengthening consumer protection and have agreed to focus on digital markets in areas such as “dark patterns” and the reliability of ratings. EU Justice Commissioner Reynders and US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan have agreed on the framework, which will include protections for specific groups such as children and underserved populations. This emerges from a joint statement (PDF).

EU-US PRIVACY SHIELD – RESULT BY YEAR END: EU Justice Commissioner Reynders sees the agreement in principle as “a first step”. They are now waiting for a legal text from the US side to discuss. A central basis of the new agreement is Biden’s pledge to limit the authorities’ access rights to personal data of EU citizens by decree to what is “necessary and proportionate” to protect national security. It is questionable, however, whether such a decree would suffice as a legal basis for the ECJ. The definition of what is necessary and proportionate is also likely to play an important role in determining whether the new agreement can legally stand.

Once the legal text is available and the review is completed, the process for a so-called adequacy decision could begin at the EU level, Reynders continued. In this framework, the European Data Protection Board would have to certify that the US has a level of data protection comparable to the GDPR. According to the Justice Commissioner, the Member States and the EU Parliament must also be involved in the process. This step could take about six months. (see Tagesspiegel Background, Paywall, DE)

UNIFORM CHARGERS – PARLIAMENT HAS WIRELESS CHARGING IN MIND:

“Wireless and fast technologies are the next steps and it is essential to avoid any future fragmentation in this area. We need a clear idea and precise framework for when the Commission needs to act on this,” MEP Repasi (S&D) said, as he sat in for lead Saliba (video) in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee on Monday.

Saliba’s draft report calls on the Commission to consider new rules for finding a common solution for wireless chargers by the end of 2025, while the Commission’s proposal only states that the EU executive may adopt delegated acts to consider rules for wireless charging in the future. It’s still early to regulate a technology that is several years away from being more widely available, which makes this one of the main stumbling blocks for EU lawmakers in their quest to harmonise wireless charging devices.

For MEP Anna Cavazzini (Greens), this makes it even more necessary to ensure that there are commitments in law now to ensure that regulation will come in the future. “We may have to make it very clear in the compromise that we aim for that, and as soon as the solution is there, we will also get harmonised wireless chargers,” she said in the IMCO meeting.

Relevant Publications, including from the EP Think Tank:

Highlights of the Current Week

You will find a listing of the upcoming dates of the European Parliament here, as well as the overview of the plenary session week. The meeting calendar for 2022 is available here (PDF).
Tuesday’s agenda includes a topical question and answer session with the Commission President two years into her mandate. Among other things, the final discussion and vote for the Data Governance Act after the trilogue are scheduled for Wednesday.

An overview of the most important dates of the Council week can be found here or the calendar of meetings here, the focal points of the meetings of the next 14 days here and the provisional calendar of meetings of the French Council Presidency here (PDF).

Among them are:

Summits and Ministerial Meetings:

Preparatory Bodies:

Information on the weekly Commission meeting can be found in the preview (PDF) or (at short notice) in the current agenda. Among others, the legislative proposal against child abuse (most recently postponed again from 27 April to 11 May) or the Media Freedom Act (29 June) are noteworthy.
The following items are on the agenda for the coming week:

  • Emissions and pollutants package
    • Revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive and update of the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR)
    • Review of EU rules on fluorinated greenhouse gases
    • Regulation on substances that deplete the ozone layer
  • European health data space

The E(U)CJ court calendar can be found here. The judgment in Poland’s case on Art. 17 DSM Directive is scheduled for 26 April (C-401/19).

Committees in the European Parliament

CW 14 / Monday, 4 April to Thursday, 7 April: Plenary Session Week (Strasbourg);

LIBE Committee (EP)

Current sessions

  • none

Other sessions (calendar)

  • Wednesday, 20 April, 2022, 9:00-12:00 and 13:45-15:45 (Brussels)
  • Thursday, 21 April 2022, 9:00-12:00 and 13:45-15:45 (Brussels)

JURI Committee (EP)

Current sessions

  • none

Further meetings (calendar)

  • Monday, 25 April 2022 (Brussels)
  • Thursday, 28 April 2022 (Brussels)

Dossiers Timetable (28 March 2022)

ITRE Committee (EP)

Current sessions

  • none

Further meetings (calendar)

  • Wednesday, 20 April 2022
  • Thursday, 21 April 2022

Dossiers Timetable (31 March 2022)

IMCO Committee (EP)

Current sessions

  • none

Other sessions (calendar)

  • Wednesday, 20 April 2022 (Brussels)
  • Thursday, 21 April 2022 (Brussels)

Dossiers Timetable (March 2022)

CULT Committee (EP)

Current sessions

  • none

Other sessions (calendar)

  • Monday, 25 April 2022 (Brussels)

Further Scheduled Parliamentary Calendar Dates

CW 15 / Monday, 11 April to Thursday, 14 April: Green Week (no sessions);

CW 16 / Monday, 18 April to Thursday, 21 April: Committee Meeting Week (Brussels);

CW 17 / Monday, 25 April to Thursday, 28 April: Group and Committee Meeting Week (Brussels);

The View from Brussels