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“The EU should facilitate the creation of an EU Deep Tech Stock Exchange with specific rules and supervision.”
– Enrico Letta in his high-level report on the Single Market.
Story of the week: In a highly-anticipated report presented on Thursday, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta recommended creating an EU stock exchange tailored for deep tech startups, according to a draft seen by Euractiv. The issue of competitiveness has risen to the top of the EU agenda in recent months due to a mix of geopolitical and trade headwinds and macroeconomic shifts affecting the bloc’s long-term performance. Outlining several problems in the bloc’s stock exchanges that prevent deep-tech startups from getting the funds they need in the EU, Letta says an EU-level “less risk-averse […] prudential regime […] could be envisaged” for institutional investors buying into deep-tech assets. Read more.
Don’t miss: The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) elected Jan Ellsberger as its new director general in its election general assembly on Tuesday. Gilles Brégant, reportedly the European Commission’s favoured candidate, did not make it to the third round of votes. Incumbent Luis Jorge Romero will hand over to Ellsberger in June, after he won the last voting round with a 54.6% majority. Ellsberger told Euractiv he was “committed to work” with all “stakeholders to re-establish ETSI’s role in the European Standardisation System,” including supporting strategic technologies like cybersecurity and AI. Read more.
Also this week:
- EU data protection body says Meta’s ‘pay or OK’ model is not OK
- France questions latest EU cloud certification scheme
- Letta’s report aligns with views of major telecoms on market integration
- EU Single Market Report: Letta advises integration of the European telecoms market
- European space industry needs a single market approach, recommends Letta report
- After TikTok Lite launch in Spain, France, EU Commission wants details
- Viral deepfake videos of Le Pen family is reminder that content moderation is still not up to par ahead of EU elections
- Online platforms’ transparency falls short ahead of EU elections, says Mozilla
Before we start: If you want even more tech analysis, tune in to our weekly podcast.
Artificial Intelligence
The fake Le Pen nieces. Deepfakes of young women allegedly members of the Le Pen family promoting French far-right parties went viral online, escalating the debate around the effectiveness of content moderation ahead of the EU elections in June. Amid the latest opinion polls predicting the rise of far-right groups, a series of fake videos went viral. They purported to show young members of the Le Pen family dancing in their underwear, at the beach, or skiing while talking about EU elections and mocking people of colour in France. Read more.
A critical opinion. On Thursday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), welcomed the completion of the draft Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law, crafted within the Council of Europe, but expressed concern about its unequal treatment of public and private actors. PACE urged member states to apply the convention’s provisions fully to private entities and suggested amendments to ensure international human rights law compatibility. The convention, set to be the first international treaty on AI, involves negotiation among Council of Europe member states, the EU, and non-European states like the US, Japan, Canada, and others.
UK to criminalise unauthorised deepfakes. London’s Ministry of Justice is planning legislation to make the creation of deepfakes without the consent of the person whose likeness is used, a criminal offence. Perpetrators could face criminal charges and unlimited fines, regardless of whether they intended for the image to be shared.
Competition
Microsoft deal dodges merger probe, but not antitrust. The Commission is mulling an investigation into Microsoft’s $13 billion investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing anonymous sources, and Bloomberg had the same information. The EU competition watchdog reportedly dropped a merger investigation into their partnership as it does not fulfil takeover criteria. The Commission might instead examine whether the deal distorts competition within the single market or whether the market has been distorted by Microsoft’s market power. The Commission said in January it is examining the nature of the two companies’ relationship after the ousting and reinstatement of OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman.
Competition in the AI sector under the UK microscope. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is concerned about market concentration in the field of foundation models, it said in a report published on Tuesday.
Buy European Tech Act & European Digital New Deal. France Digitale and the European Digital SME Alliance renew their push for increased competitiveness, in light of Letta’s report. France Digital renewed its call for a Buy European Tech Act, which prioritises national companies in public procurement. The European Digital SME Alliance renewed its call for a European Digital New Deal, including the promotion of public-private partnerships.
Apple repairs. According to a post by Apple published last Thursday, the company is expanding its repair processes to allow customers and repair providers to use used Apple parts for selected iPhone models starting in the autumn. This aims to enhance repair options while ensuring user privacy and safety, Apple says.
Cybersecurity
UN Cybercrime Treaty. Negotiations for the UN Cybercrime Treaty are set to resume this summer, according to a Monday article in the InfoSecurity Magazine. The article points out that the latest draft faces criticism for potentially facilitating cybercrime, as well as a lack of safeguards. Stakeholders are pushing for a narrower scope and stronger human rights protections.
Delaying cybersecurity. National cybersecurity experts have postponed a vote on a draft EU cybersecurity label, delaying potential bids from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft for sensitive EU cloud computing contracts until May, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The experts met in Brussels but did not vote on the latest draft. The next steps involve opinions from EU countries and a final decision by the European Commission.
Data & Privacy
Digital Minister defends stance on age verification for porn sites. In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, French Digital Secretary of State Marina Ferrari defended age verification provisions in the new French digital umbrella bill SREN, which was adopted earlier last week. “No pornographic content will be displayed on the website screen until user age verification has been implemented,” explaining that the audiovisual regulatory authority will be capable of blocking or de-indexing a pornographic website in case of non-compliance. She declined to comment on the temporary six-month period during which the Arcom wishes that pornographic websites use an age verification system using credit cards, explaining her role was there to make sure criteria were enforced. Asked about the failure of such systems implemented abroad, she said the Arcom was doing “everything it could” and that “technical solutions exist.”
Digital Services Act
TikTok Lite launch problems. On Wednesday, the European Commission asked TikTok to provide information on how it evaluated the risks associated with the launch of its Lite app under the Digital Services Act (DSA). TikTok should have conducted a risk evaluation before introducing TikTok Lite in the EU, said the Commission. The Lite app was launched in France and Spain in April. The Chinese-owned platform has 24 hours to submit the risk assessment, which the Commission says should have been conducted before its launch. Other information is to be submitted by 26 April. Read more.
Zalando files a new lawsuit. Online retailer Zalando is suing the European Commission over transparency in calculating fees for Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) under the DSA. They dispute the Commission’s use of 47.5 million monthly active recipients, arguing it includes non-DSA-covered visitors. Zalando seeks clarity on fee calculation and questions its VLOP designation. This is the second legal action by the retailer to contest its designation as a VLOP.
Platform data. The Weizenbaum Institute’s policy paper addresses early compliance issues with the DSA regarding publicly accessible platform data. Authored by Julian Jaursch, Jakob Ohme, and Ulrike Klinger, the paper discusses challenges researchers face in accessing data from very large online platforms and suggests improvements.
Industrial strategy
Single market for space too, Letta says. The EU space market should be integrated, because the European space industry is no longer adequate to compete in the current global space economy, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta writes in his draft report seen by Euractiv. “A dynamic space sector, capable of thriving in the harsh global competition and providing the appropriate instruments for Europe’s strategic autonomy and security, is essential for the future of Europe. To achieve this, the current approach […] must be revised,” states the report. Read more.
Safer online environment. DOT Europe, an association representing internet companies in Europe, welcomes the Louvain-la-Neuve Declaration by EU member states for a safer online environment and urges harmonised enforcement and industry guidance to ensure fairness in the single market, the organisation said in a post published on Monday. Constantin Gissler, director general of DOT Europe, stressed the importance of dialogue between stakeholders and authorities.
Law enforcement
New CSAM compromise text. The Belgian EU Council Presidency’s latest compromise text of the draft law on detecting and preventing online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) further clarifies risk categorisation thresholds and lays out service providers’ obligation for data retention. The latest compromise text, dated 9 April and seen by Euractiv, was sent by the Belgian Presidency to the Law Enforcement Working Party (LEWP). Read more.
Media
Euronews deal: French journalists trade union calls for parliamentary enquiries. The largest journalist trade union in France, SNJ, called last Saturday for a “parliamentary enquiry” on the acquisition of the European news channel Euronews by organisations close to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Euronews, whose headquarters were established in Lyon, was a company abiding by French law. The Portuguese investment fund Alpact Capital, of which some 30% of the funds are held by people close to Orban, acquired a majority share of Euronews in July 2022, in an operation green-lighted by the French Ministry of Finances. The SNJ “questions the green light given by the Ministry” and “calls for the opening of a parliamentary inquiry to shed light on the matter”.
Platforms
EDPB not ok with “pay or okay”. The European Data Protection Board opposed Meta’s controversial “pay or okay” business model in an opinion published on Wednesday, saying this approach was not compliant with the EU’s data privacy rules. Big online platforms will not be compliant with requirements of the EU’s data privacy regulation, the GDPR, for valid consent “if they confront users only with a binary choice” between paying for their personal data not to be processed or having this data processed, said the Board in its opinion. “The offering of (only) a paid alternative to the service which includes processing for behavioural advertising purposes should not be the default way forward for controllers,” the opinion said. Read more.
Platform transparency. Online platforms have gaping holes in their transparency ahead of the June European Parliament elections, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Mozilla Foundation, the non-profit organisation behind the Firefox browser. The Mozilla Foundation called on CheckFirst to conduct stress tests evaluating whether platforms’ transparency tools are “ready for action.” The report focused on the ad repositories of AliExpress, X, Amazon, Bing, Snapchat, Zalando, Google, YouTube, Booking.com, Pinterest, Apple’s App Store, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram’s Meta, and TikTok. Read more.
Anglophone platforms pose a risk to the French language, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said in a TV interview at a Canadian radio from Quebec last Thursday. “Digital technology […] puts the French-speaking world at risk,” he said, suggesting that francophone countries join forces to defend the French language around the world. As an example, he quoted the French legislation that “imposes on platforms to finance French creative industries.” In France, taxes on the audiovisual and music industries help finance the National Centre of Cinematography (CNC) and the National Centre of Music (CNM), tasked with supporting French creative industries in their respective fields.
Telecom
Letta agrees with telecom giants. The former Italian Prime Minister aligned with some of the talking points by the EU’s largest telecom players, according to a draft report seen by Euractiv. The report dedicates nine out of 147 pages to telecoms, arguing that in this sector, the “fragmentation in rules and industries at the national level” hinders a “final step towards a single market. A “maximum harmonisation” of the telecoms rules is needed, Letta wrote. While the EU regulatory framework has “delivered a wide increase in consumer welfare,” it is not fit for the future, the draft report said. Read more.
France vs EUCS. France has questioned the latest draft of the EU Cloud Certification Scheme (EUCS) that would allow member states to set national sovereignty requirements at the highest cybersecurity level of the scheme, according to a leaked letter sent to the European Council of the EU’s Legal Service. French politicians have been pushing for additional requirements, including some 2,000 cybersecurity requirements, on the third level of this new EU scheme. Read more.
Telecom Council talks cybersecurity and competitiveness. During the 11-12 April informal telecommunications council, EU ministers agreed that the EU’s “critical infrastructure must remain primarily in European hands.” They also “stressed the importance of a single European telecommunications market,” calling for harmonised rules at the EU level.
EU digital ministers’ declaration on a safer online environment. On the last day of the informal telecommunications meeting, EU telecommunications and digital ministers adopted a declaration on “promoting a safer, responsible and trustworthy online environment.” The declaration “entrusts the European Commission with creating optional tools” to verify the veracity of online accounts, reads the website of the Belgian Presidency.
Another call for competitiveness. Ahead of the ministers meeting in Dublin on Friday, European telecom infrastructure companies Ericsson, Nokia, telecommunication operator Vodafone, chipmaker Intel, and technology company IBM signed a joint statement on Wednesday calling on ministers to “achieve a true digital single market.” Among other proposals, the five companies suggested modernising the telecoms regulatory framework, “including a fresh approach to merger control and spectrum allocation.”
Green telecom infrastructure. The five aforementioned companies also reiterated the claim that advanced connectivity, mainly 5G, will “optimise the use of energy and natural resources in line with EU sustainability goals.” The EU’s taxonomy should allow telecom infrastructure investments to be considered green, in order to “attract green financing to support network deployments.”
What else we’re reading this week:
Is robotics about to have its own ChatGPT moment? (MIT Technology Review)
Google fires 28 staff after protest against firm’s contract with Israeli government (The Guardian)
Why chipmakers are investing billions into ‘advanced packaging’ (Financial Times)
*Eliza Gkritsi contributed to the reporting
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
