Disruptive Competition Project
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Phone: (202) 783-0070
Fax: (202) 783-0534
Section
European Union
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is creating unprecedented shifts in Europe’s online economy and the wider digital sphere. The DMA designates certain large digital companies as ‘gatekeepers’ – who face additional obligations and restrictions. With the incoming European Commission soon taking office, we are now looking at a new stage for DMA implementation: one where the outcomes are uncertain.
After 16 months of suspense, the European Commission finally published its draft rules outlining the process and conditions required for researchers to access the data of so-called Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines (VLOPs and VLOSEs)). That’s a mouthful indeed, but this delegated act will be instrumental to the proper implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
After the first round of hearings for the 2024-2029 European Commission by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) during the […]
Starting on Monday 4 November, the European Commissioners-designate will face tough questioning by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) during […]
It’s been five years since the EU started debating how to unify and provide robust security standards for cloud services across all Member States, under the so-called European Cybersecurity Certification Scheme for Cloud Services (EUCS). The reality is that it would have taken a lot less time, had the conversation only focused on designing effective security controls – skipping protracted debates over duplicating a French certification scheme only designed to favour local cloud vendors.
Europe is at a crossroads and needs to choose what kind of internet it really wants. Do we want popular online services and content to remain free of charge for users who don’t mind personalised advertising, or is the EU going to push everyone towards a subscription-only model for the internet in the future?
September wasn’t just back to school for Brussels, but also back to discussing the future of Europe’s digital infrastructure and the EU telecoms sector.
At the beginning of this year, Italy put in place its national anti-piracy platform, the so-called ‘Piracy Shield’. While the overall aim is to protect intellectual property rights and reduce the spread of pirated content online, particularly in the case of live streams, in practice the Piracy Shield constitutes the perfect example of what to avoid when setting up rules that allow for the blocking of content on the internet.
Earlier this week, the much-anticipated report on the way forward for Europe’s ailing competitiveness, authored by Mario Draghi, finally came out. Expectations for what’s next are high, but above all the report should be seen as a – last? – wakeup call for Europe to do better and stop thinking everything can be solved with more of the same: more regulation, more self doubt, more protectionism. It’s high time the EU actually starts to listen to what industry and employers, innovators and market leaders need to succeed in the EU.
Summer is a good time to reflect on what comes next. With the change in EU institutions, we have a short breather. But many work streams continue, least of all the new and very publicised enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
