Insurance
MEPs demand EU strategy to protect gig economy workers
The European Parliament is expected to adopt a draft report on Thursday (15 June) calling on EU and national authorities to ensure “fair working conditions and adequate legal and social protection for all workers” in the collaborative economy.
Commission struggles with tax exemptions in EU-wide pension proposal
European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis admitted on Thursday (8 June) that full harmonisation across Europe, for the tax regime applied to the upcoming EU-wide personal pension insurance, was "unlikely".
EU cybersecurity agency seeks funds and power to police attacks
The EU cybersecurity agency ENISA will get a makeover in September when the European Commission renews its mandate and presents a batch of new cybersecurity measures. The director of the Athens-based agency has been asking for a bigger budget to deal with the rise in attacks on internet-connected devices.
Fifteen countries ask for EU legislation on data flows
Ministers from 15 EU countries have asked the European Commission to focus on removing barriers to digital trade one week before the executive presents a mid-term review of its flagship Digital Single Market policies.
Uber, France spar over whether company is a transport service
US ride-hailing app Uber told Europe's top court on Monday (24 April) that it was a digital service, not a transport service, and that a French law clearly targeted online taxi services, in its latest European legal battle with the taxi industry.
Brussels eyes EU-wide licence for FinTech startups
The European Commission wants to create a special regime to attract FinTech companies in Europe and help the old continent compete globally on this promising new market, EU sources told EURACTIV.com.
Parliament plenary rejects universal basic income
The European Parliament's plenary session voted today (16 February) against a universal basic income to compensate for the impact of robots on the labour market.
In a self-driving future we can’t let carmakers decide who lives and who dies
The EU needs independent oversight of self-driving technologies, argues Antonio Avenoso. The risk is of a kind of lawless Wild West for the early years of automated cars, not unlike the early years of motoring itself – before speed limits, traffic lights and driver license tests started to set the rules of the road.
Law professor: ‘Autonomous weapons’ notably absent from EU motion on robotics, AI
The European Parliament is voting today (16 February) on a landmark resolution on civil law, robotics and artificial intelligence. Ahead of the vote, Euractiv.com explored the ethical and legal implications of robotisation with a professor of international and European law.
MEPs want ‘free cash’ to address job-killer robots threat
EU legislators today (12 January) called for a universal basic income to combat the looming risk of job loss by the onward march of robots, as well as concerns about European welfare systems.
Companies face new data access rules under controversial Commission plans
Car manufacturers and other firms that increasingly rely on consumer data to make money could be subject to new EU rules that would force them to share that data with other firms, according to a leaked draft of the plans obtained by EURACTIV.com.
Uber gains key support ahead of EU Court hearing
A majority of EU governments are expected tomorrow (29 November) to back – at least partly – the ride-hailing firm’s claim of being a digital platform, opening the way for a lighter regulatory oversight of the American-based company than if it was considered like a normal transport firm.
Bulgaria has the EU’s deadliest roads
Bulgaria, Romania and Latvia had the most road deaths per capita in the EU in 2015, tarnishing the EU's record on vehicle safety in a year when the number of people killed by vehicle crashes rose for the first time in almost twenty years.
European Commission paralysed over data flows in TiSA trade deal
European Commission officials have struck a deal that could put a clause guaranteeing international data flows into a trade agreement with 22 countries outside the bloc, including the United States and Australia.
‘Robots are leaving the cage’, dazzling EU lawyers and regulators
How should autonomous and self-learning robots be considered from a legal viewpoint? Under plans currently under discussion, they can be regarded as pets or even as “robot persons” in their own right, EURACTIV.com has learned.
Carmakers fear EU plans to ease data flows will help tech rivals
European car manufacturers are seeking full control over the data sent to them by connected vehicles they put on the road, and fear a move by Brussels that would impose sharing that data with rivals.
EU countries want legal change for driverless cars – but they’ll have to wait
Driverless cars have figured into several EU policy plans lately, as politicians have advocated for speeding up work on the technology to stop countries like the United States from having a leg up on European auto manufacturers.
How Oettinger surprised Brussels
Günther Oettinger has faced ridicule for his handling of EU tech policy since he took the job two years ago. But the digital Commissioner is finally getting some credit, and winning praise from some corners for a major overhaul of telecoms law.
Commission champions ‘laissez-faire’ in first response to FinTech revolution
The digital revolution in the financial sector will get a helping hand from EU regulators later this year when the European Commission tables new proposals for retail financing, with a clear objective: let the revolution flourish.
Investors fear next financial crisis will be climate-related
A rushed transition to clean energy triggered by extreme weather events linked to global warming “will be very expensive” to swallow for the economy, investors warned policymakers at an event in Bratislava last week.
Universal basic income paid by a ‘robot tax’ is a bad idea
Although the digitalisation of industry is a top priority among EU decision makers, Europe should not be concerned about job losses caused by growing automation. Instead, member states should teach the new generations the skills required for a digital future, believes the VDMA chief, Thilo Brodtman.
Commission asked to fund cross-border tests of driverless cars
Telecoms operators and car manufacturers have asked the European Commission to put money into a major, four-year project running driverless cars between EU member states, in the first test of the new technology between more than one country.
EU considers new insurance laws for driverless cars
The European Commission is trying to figure out whether insurance laws should be changed to cover crashes caused by driverless cars. With no human in control of the cars, insurance companies are already rethinking who will be liable for the new technology.
Insurance exec: Big data allows better understanding of risk
The insurance industry is adjusting its offers on health, cars, the sharing economy and other services because of the growing amount of personal data becoming available.