The Commission is calling for opinions on the planned guidelines on the protection of minors online. Once adopted, these guidelines will set out how online platforms must implement data protection, safety and security for minors on the internet in order to meet the requirements of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Commission aims to adopt […]
The European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs) have published a digital maturity assessment tool. This tool is designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises identify their strengths and weaknesses in the digital transformation of their business. According to the Commission, the tool is open to all companies and is available free of charge in 32 languages.Companies […]
The European Commission is launching a two-pronged process to develop the first Code of Conduct for general-purpose AI. The European AI Office is calling for expressions of interest in contributing to this code and is conducting a comprehensive consultation on trustworthy general-purpose AI (GPAI) models in parallel.The code of conduct is intended to ensure that […]
According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach rose to $4.88 million (around €4.5 million) in 2024. This is shown in the company’s Cost of Data Breach Report. This represents an increase of ten percent compared to the previous year. It is the largest annual increase since the pandemic. According to the report, […]
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has strengthened consumers’ hopes of getting their money back in certain cases following the insolvency of their tour operator. The ECJ in Luxembourg ruled that protection against the insolvency of a tour operator can also apply if the consumer withdraws from their trip due to “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances […]
The highest European court has strengthened the protection of wolves in Spain. The judges of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that if the condition of the animals is poor at a national level, hunting should not simply be allowed in individual regions where wolves are slightly better off. An assessment of whether a […]
Observers did not detect any major or systematic disinformation incidents before or during the 2024 European elections. Nevertheless, a few weeks before the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg, the Commission is reminding social networks to continue to comply with the European rules against disinformation and foreign information manipulation and interference (Fimi).It also wants […]
The European Commission is investigating whether a €321.2 million German restructuring measure for the airline Condor complies with EU state aid rules. The measure was originally approved by the Commission in July 2021 on the basis of the State Aid Guidelines on Rescue and Restructuring. However, the approval was annulled by the General Court of […]
The economic and technological developments in the last election period have made it very clear to us in Europe that we will not be able to defend our way of life and our democracy if our economy does not become stronger. This is especially true with the prospect of Donald Trump becoming president again and […]
The EU is falling behind in international comparison regarding patent applications and thus its innovative strength and competitiveness. This is revealed in a recent study by the Centre for European Policy (cep). The study found that the EU lags behind global innovation leaders such as the USA, Japan and South Korea, particularly in advanced materials, […]