As previously announced, the Czech Council Presidency presented a third compromise proposal for the Data Act at a working-level meeting on December 13. This means that the dossier now passes to the Swedish Council Presidency.The most important changes in the third compromise paper on the Data Act are:Clarification of the interplay between the Data Act […]
The many “white spots” on maps show that broadband expansion is not progressing as it should. This is not only the case in Germany, which ranks in the middle of the pack in a European comparison. That’s why the European Commission adopted new guidelines on state aid for broadband networks (Broadband Guidelines) on Monday. In […]
VAT is one of the most important sources of revenue for EU member states. But they lost an estimated €93 billion in VAT revenue in 2020 alone. This was determined by the European Commission in a report on the VAT gap. Now the Commission wants to modernize the system and ensure that it becomes more […]
The German government wants to give new impetus to the digitization of the energy transition. To this end, the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) has drafted a bill to relaunch the digitization of the energy transition (GNDEW), which is now going into departmental coordination. With this law, the BMWK aims to reduce […]
On Wednesday, the EU Commission presented a series of draft laws aimed at making the EU capital markets more attractive, autonomous and resilient. Specifically, the aim is to strengthen clearing systems in the Union and harmonize insolvency rules. Also relevant to strengthening the digital economy is the legislation on listing on public markets (Listing Act).Strengthen […]
Under the Czech presidency, ministers in the EU Telecoms Council advanced several digital dossiers on Tuesday. The agenda included the adoption of the Council’s General Orientations on the draft of the AI Act and the European digital identity (eID).Progress reports on the Data Act and Cyber Resilience Act were also discussed. For the Data Act, […]
The metaverse is still largely untapped territory. Not even an exact definition of the immersive Internet exists. Nevertheless, companies like Meta, Microsoft and Google already invest billions in these new digital spaces, created through the convergence of virtual, augmented and physical reality. And this time, the EU wants to have a say in virtual land […]
Rapporteur Adam Bielan (ECR) has warned the Internal Market Committee (IMCO) that the Data Act will reduce the range of cloud services in the EU to the lowest common denominator. Regarding functional equivalence, for example, “we have to decide whether we focus on imposing additional obligations on the provider to make it easier for the […]
More than 1100 amendments in the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) alone show that there is still a lot to discuss in the Data Act. Today, Tuesday, the Data Act (DA) is on the agenda in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). MEPs will debate the opinion of Adam […]
With its war of aggression against Ukraine and its attempts at blackmail, Russia has caused a severe upheaval in the global energy market. If nothing else, the crisis has highlighted the weaknesses of the previous structure. Geopolitics and energy expert Andreas Goldthau does not expect a return to a fully liberalized energy market. He also […]