Samuel Stolton
France and Germany turn up the heat on EU digital tax
German Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, and his French counterpart, Bruno Le Maire, rallied their support for the European Commission's digital tax plans on Monday (12 December), with the former stating that he wants a deal tied up at a December meeting of EU finance ministers in Brussels.
Eurobarometer survey: Jourová rings ‘alarm bells’ ahead of EU Elections
EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová has delivered a stark message to member states ahead of the European elections in 2019, warning on Tuesday (6 November) that "the risk of interference and manipulation has never been so high."
Stark divisions among member states in EU digital tax plans
EU finance ministers remain divided over a raft of issues in the European Commission's digital services tax (DST) plans after a meeting on Tuesday (6 November) drew attention to a plethora of challenges in reaching a consensus.
Some countries ‘more comfortable’ with interim deal on digital tax, EU diplomats say
Some EU member states are likely to feel “more comfortable” with a temporary agreement on the EU’s digital tax plans rather than wait for international consensus, EU diplomats said on Monday (5 November), ahead of a meeting of EU finance ministers.
Macron loses out in polls as Le Pen surges forward
France's far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party has overtaken President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist LREM in the latest poll of voting intentions ahead of the 2019 European Elections.
UK takes lead in digital tax standoff but diverts from EU plans
The UK is to roll out a digital services tax (DST) for tech giants from April 2020 in a move that breaks an international stalemate on the subject. The rates, however, differ substantially from the EU’s own DST plans.
Facebook hit with UK’s maximum fine as EU officials praise privacy efforts
Senior EU officials extolled the successes of the bloc’s data protection regulations on Thursday (25 October), as Facebook was fined £500,000 for its part in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
EU digital tax is ‘discriminatory’, US says
US authorities have criticised the EU's plans to introduce a 'digital tax,' describing the measures as 'discriminatory' in a letter penned to European Council president Donald Tusk and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, at the close of last week's EU summit.
US should ‘follow EU’ in privacy legislation, Apple chief says
Tim Cook, head of tech giant Apple, has rallied the US to “follow the lead” of the EU in privacy rules, saying that humanity is living amid a “data industrial complex” in which “our own information is being weaponised against us with military efficiency”.
Learning to trust the killer robots
It's been more than 75 years since the American science fiction writer Isaac Asimov published his seminal 'Three laws on Robotics', a concise ethical framework that came to govern the principles by which Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been developed worldwide.
US taking privacy shield deal seriously, EU officials say
The US is making a number of steps in the right direction in order to fall in line with the EU-US privacy shield agreement, EU officials said on Thursday (18 October). The comments came as the Commission entered the first round of talks for the second annual review of the pact.
EU-US Privacy Shield review: Jourová to meet US secretary amid compliance concerns
The EU's Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová will sit down with US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Thursday (18 October), as they launch a review of the EU-US privacy shield, while certain EU MEPs remain unconvinced by the agreement.
Stubb has ‘zero tolerance’ for EPP rebels
Alexander Stubb, one of the EPP’s candidates for the next European Commission president, came out in defiance against the ‘illiberal’ factions within his party on Wednesday (17 October), saying he had zero tolerance for violations of fundamental party values.
EU code of practice on fake news: Tech giants sign the dotted line
Tech giants including Facebook, Google, Twitter and Mozilla have submitted plans to the European Commission outlining how they will abide by a code of practice against fake news, amid opposition on the proposals from a multistakeholder forum.
Digital tax to come by Christmas, Moscovici says
The EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici has rallied the cause for an EU-wide digital tax to be rolled out in time for Christmas, amid a raft of opposition on the plans from member states, legal experts and industry associations.
MEPs stake claim for the copyright of data in autonomous vehicles
MEPs sitting in the European Parliament's Legal Affairs committee voted down an important clause in a draft opinion on Tuesday (10 October), backing the notion that data capture during the operation of autonomous vehicles should be subject to copyright rules.
EU digital tax: MEPs call for higher rates
The European Commission should consider increasing the proposed rates in the controversial digital tax plans, MEPs from the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs committee suggested on Tuesday (9 October).
Ireland joins growing list of EU digital tax opponents
The European Commission's proposal to oblige tech firms to pay a 3% levy on revenues faced a further setback on Sunday (7 September), as Ireland joined a growing list of member states opposing the measures.
‘Russia must stop its reckless pattern of behaviour’, NATO’s Stoltenberg warns
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Russia on Thursday (4 September) to "stop its reckless pattern of behaviour" and vowed to strengthen the alliance's defences, citing recent Russian-led cyber-attacks on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
A ‘fifth freedom’ of the EU: MEPs back an end to data localisation
MEPs voted on Thursday to (4 October) to support the final text on the free flow of non-personal data across the EU, hailed as a potential game changer for the digital economy. The regulation was adopted with overwhelming support in the European Parliament with 520 votes to 81.
US ‘fully compliant’ with EU privacy shield, ambassador says
The United States is abiding by EU data protection rules and has an ombudsman to monitor complaints in the field, US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, said on Wednesday (3 September).
Connected cars: A question of road safety in the 5G Vs WiFi debate
The automotive industry is moving ever closer in the mass development of connected cars, yet a number of challenges still exist for policymakers if the EU is to foster the development of the technology alongside fulfiling its long-term goal of zero fatalities by 2050 as part of its ambitious "Vision Zero" programme.
MEPs vote for more European TV on our screens
MEPs at the European Parliament backed plans on Tuesday (2 October) to ensure that at least 30 per cent of content provided by online media platforms such as Amazon and Netflix is European.