Digital Single Market Archives

The first EU cybersecurity law went into effect on Wednesday (9 March), as negotiators continue to hammer out details of a second bill that will create even more rules in the area.

European Commission officials who pushed through new cybersecurity legislation set to take effect next week are expecting EU countries to introduce high fines against companies that disobey the rules.

Europe must continue to establish itself as the global regulator of digital technology serving Europeans and respond to growing pressure from online platforms, write Mariya Gabriel and Mounir Mahjoubi.

Broadcasters could be forced to pay into national funds to support European film and TV productions in any EU country, even if they’re based in a different member state, negotiators on an audiovisual media bill have agreed.

The European Commission has threatened to introduce legislation on so-called fake news by the end of the year as part of its strategy to clamp down on online disinformation before the 2019 EU elections.

Online platforms ranging from ecommerce retailers like Amazon to search engines including Google will be forced to reveal the criteria they use to display search results, under a new European Commission proposal.

The European Commission announced on Wednesday (25 April) that it will invest €1.5 billion into artificial intelligence research over the next three years, and was promptly hit with criticism for drafting its strategy years after the United States and China started their own massive funding plans.

Draft EU legislation poses a threat to member states that already have sophisticated cybersecurity tests, like France and Germany, the director of France’s cybersecurity agency warned in an interview.

The European Parliament is holding its ground on its controversial proposal to lower the costs of international phone calls within the EU, one week before a make-or-break round of negotiations on a sweeping telecoms bill.

The EU needs more legal safeguards to prevent massive privacy breaches like the current scandal over Facebook and British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, MEPs from different political parties argued on Wednesday (18 April).

Twenty-four EU countries pledged to band together to form a “European approach” to artificial intelligence in a bid to compete with American and Asian tech giants.

The European Commission should “walk the walk” and use strong encryption to protect its computer networks against hackers---instead of pushing member states to adopt controversial new legislation, the head of Germany’s cybersecurity agency has said.

The NGO Reporters Without Borders wants to create a reliable media certification to limit the spread of fake news. EURACTIV.fr reports.

Superfast 5G mobile networks come with “extremely dangerous” cybersecurity risks, the EU cybersecurity agency ENISA has warned. 5G is expected to become available to European consumers by 2025.

Facebook users “need to know what happened with their data” following reports over a week ago that millions of profiles on the social media platform were secretly used to help political campaigns, EU Digital Commissioner Mariya Gabriel said.

The European Commission’s proposal on digital taxation demonstrates a completely new logic of taxation. It contains all the wrongs you can achieve in one proposal, writes Gunnar Hökmark. 

The 28 EU heads of state issued a warning shot on Thursday (22 March) over allegations that 50 million Facebook users’ data was harvested without their consent to influence political campaigns.

Leaders of the 28 EU member states meet in Brussels on 22-23 March for high-level talks on issues ranging from the Salisbury poisoning attack to visions for a reform of the eurozone.

After half a year of intense debate and bickering between member states, the European Commission proposed on Wednesday (21 March) a new system for taxing digital companies that will charge large firms 3% of their revenue and will hit US tech giants like Google and Facebook.

Paris and Tallinn have signed an e-government agreement to combat cyberattacks and develop the digital economy. EURACTIV’s partner La Tribune reports.

The OECD warned on Friday (16 March) against the European Commission’s plan to propose a new tax next week targeting digital companies, arguing that it may cause economic distortion and raise business costs.

The EU High-Level Expert Group on ‘fake news’ published its report with recommendations earlier this week. Christophe Leclercq, one of its members, offers his views on its potential impact ahead of the 2019 EU elections, and why it matters to the media sector.

Large digital companies with significant revenues in the European Union such as Google and Facebook could face a 3% tax on their turnover under a draft proposal by the European Commission.

European telecoms regulators are investigating whether app stores restrict internet access by limiting their users’ choice of content, the chair of the umbrella group of EU watchdogs said on Wednesday (14 March).