Publications Archive

Hybrid warfare, hacker attacks, cyber-attacks: Parliament and Council have agreed on new cyber security regulations in Brussels. According to the so-called NIS 2 Directive, around 160,000 European companies and public authorities will in future be subject to uniform EU requirements for managing cyber risks and reporting cyber incidents. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep) considers some regulations too broad and calls for a more efficient focus.

The European Union wants to massively expand the production of cutting-edge computer chips. The aim is to reduce dependence on countries such as the United States, Taiwan and South Korea through European research and production. The Centrum für Europäische Politik (cep), has doubts that the law will have this effect and fears a subsidy race worth billions. The cep had already warned against an industrial policy aberration last March.

Die Europäische Union will bis 2030 rund 45 Milliarden Euro in die Produktion hochmoderner Halbleiter investieren. Dazu weicht die Kommission mit dem sogenannten Chips Act bislang geltende strenge Beihilferegeln auf. Mit diesem Paradigmenwechsel will Europa die Abhängigkeit von den USA und von China reduzieren sowie in Forschung und Produktion autonomer werden. Brüssel reagiert damit auf Lieferengpässe, unter denen nicht zuletzt die deutsche Autobranche leidet. Das cep hält das Gesetz für einen industriepolitischen Irrweg.

Whether healthcare, work, consumption or media: artificial intelligence (AI) will change the lives of many people in various ways. The Commission therefore wants to create rules to protect the health, safety and fundamental rights of AI users. It wants to ban particularly dangerous AI systems. Other AI systems will be subject to obligations depended on their risk or voluntary codes of conduct. In some cases, there should be no obligations at all.

Identity cards, driving licences, digital money: according to the Commission, Member States are to introduce so-called digital wallets. Smartphone apps are to replace the paper and card economy in purses by mid-2023. Each Member State must present a technical solution by then. The Commission has presented a corresponding proposal for a Regulation.

Online platforms are often misused to spread terrorist propaganda and hate speech. Providers such as Facebook play a key role in combating illegal content. With the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Commission wants to improve the internal market and create a safe and transparent online environment.

Tech giants like Google, Amazon or Facebook dominate the global internet market. Competition law is not enough to prevent abuse of power. The Commission therefore presented the Digital Markets Act (DMA) last December. The law is intended to prevent operators of large internet platforms from restricting competition or imposing unfair conditions.

The second part of the cepPolicyBrief on the Digital Markets Act examines enforcement and procedures of the planned law. Enforcement at the EU level avoids divergent application of the DMA in the individual member states. However, to ensure speedy procedures, national authorities should be involved in the application of the DMA.

Tech giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook or Apple dominate the global internet market. Competition law is not enough to prevent abuse of power. The Commission therefore presented a law for digital services, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), last December. The law aims to prevent operators of large online platforms from restricting competition or imposing unfair conditions.

The EU Commission wants to promote the sharing of valuable data held by public authorities, companies and private individuals. This includes data donations, such as the voluntary sharing of health data for research into the Corona pandemic.