Townsend FEEHAN

The EU Commission has made a call to start to convert the voluntary Code of Practice on Disinformation into a binding Code of Conduct under the hashtag #DSA has officially begun. What does this mean for your platform? Read below #trustandsafety #regulation

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The latest proposal by the Belgian Presidency on the #CSARegulation is dangerous:  ❌ Confronting users with a binary choice of either agreeing to having their private chats scanned for child sexual abuse or not allowing them to share and receive images, videos or URLs would de facto lead to the introduction of client-side scanning. This would severely undermine the robust protection that end-to-end encryption provides to people’s privacy and security, while increasing the likelihood of privacy breaches. With this proposal, the Belgian Presidency seems to have once again fallen into the trap of choosing safety over privacy rights, when the ultimate goal should be to balance both in a way that effectively protects children while guaranteeing the right to privacy of all users. This is why CCIA Europe and a coalition of other industry associations have issued an urgent call on Member States to protect both safety and privacy in the Council’s position, and to strongly preserve the integrity of end-to-end encryption and confidentiality of communications. You can read the joint call 👇 #privacy #CCIAeurope #EUvsChildSexualAbuse #CSAR 

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It was a pleasure to discuss with leaders of chambers of commerce throughout Europe, and listen to the wise words of VP Maroš Šefčovič. Many thanks to Ben Butters for the invite. The Green, Digital and Competitive SME (gdc.lisboncouncil.net) index shows a wide gap between SME fast digital adoption and slow progress in green transition and competitiveness. This raises a question: what if using green energy and exporting were as cheap, easy and predictable as using the cloud? How can we get there? To me, lowering the green premium is crucial, and the single market offers a more realistic solution than tariffs and subsidies for industry. The challenge in front of us is design single market policies that are effective but also able to address the discontent behind the far right surge before it's too late.

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🎉 Happy Europe Day! Some may say that culture is not an EU competence, but in fact the EU does a lot for creators' rights.  At the Society of Audiovisual Authors we shared a message from audiovisual authors' organisations to fellow EU citizens and colleagues in the cultural sector to vote in the European elections. We also highlighted some of the key achievements of the EU Parliament this term, especially for screenwriters and directors. I believe it was Bianca Baumler who said it well at the last #BeersAndPolitics, that young people tend to connect and identify more with the sectors/groups they belong to than with their citizenship. Yes, and I think that community-based communication also applies to professional affiliation. Journalists want to know what the EU is doing for press freedom, doctors want EU investment in healthcare, and creators want to reassurance that their rights are protected. #UseYourVote I #WeLoveAuthors

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Eleven events completed and four more to come between now and the end of June... But that's not all. Working for the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2024 also means a huge amount of negotiating behind the scenes... Here is a brief overview of the work in progress: - The evaluation of the EU's financial instrument (NDICI); - The evaluation of the EU's Global Gateway initiative, for which our country is emphasizing human development, "mutually beneficial" partnerships and ownership by partner countries (24 May); - The EU DG Meeting, where discussions will focus on our partnerships, rebuilding trust in a context of multiple crises, and the messages the EU wants to send to the next Commission (13-14 June); - Discussions within the Working Group on Humanitarian Aid (COHAFA) on innovative financing, decolonization, disinformation, hate speech and their impact on humanitarian aid. Following the adoption of the Council's conclusions on humanitarian protection on 7 May, the Presidency is also working on the EU's common messages on the protection of humanitarian workers and an update of the common messages on the humanitarian situation in the DRC. Without forgetting the negotiations led in synergy within the working parties dedicated to development (CODEV), Africa (COAFR), finance (FICO), health (EPSCO), migration (EMWP), humanitarian aid (COHAFA), the ACP, the Agenda 2030 and the CYBER. Focus of the day: the innovation as a key enabler for sustainable food system transformation in Africa. An event co-organized with Enabel and European Commission (INTPA) to be followed here: https://lnkd.in/erQisQ_U #EU2024BE

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We sat down with Brando Benifei MEP. He was one of the leading negotiators of the AI Act and just announced over the weekend he is going to campaign for a new term in the European Parliament. We discussed: * Will the AI Act boost EU competitiveness or should we worry about the Act’s impact on European innovation?  * How will the AI Act impact businesses on a day-to-day basis?  Which direction is AI governance moving to, within the EU and outside of its borders?  * What can we expect next, with the European elections in sight?  See the link below to read it in full:

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Great Funding Opportunity! Civitates – Tech and Democracy has launched an open call for organizations in France and Ireland. We're looking for projects focused on the national enforcement of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and other EU tech regulations. Our aim is to enhance online public discourse and address how technology influences information access, spread, and consumption, especially during key democratic moments like elections. 💶 Total budget: €1,000,000. We plan to support up to six grantees with flexible, core support of up to €200,000 each over two years. For more information on eligibility and selection criteria. Full info here: https://lnkd.in/eJ9f8rJu #FundingOpportunity #TechAndDemocracy #DigitalServicesAct #EURegulations #PublicDiscourse #InformationAccess #TechForGood #CivicTech #ElectionIntegrity #France #Ireland #NonprofitFunding #Grants #Innovation #DigitalRights

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🚀 “Legal and Ethical Challenges for #Startups and #Artists” by Noémie Krack is the 3rd and final policy brief that explains how MediaFutures.EU approached the legal questions related to #data & #innovation, the legal challenges encountered by the teams and recommendations for policymakers. Read the full #policybrief here 👉 https://bit.ly/3Fc3dXq #media #smes #startups #artists #creativeartists #innovation #data #journalism #mediatech #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #medialiteracy #AI #artsandculture #creativeai #disinformation #datascience #dataliteracy #medialiteracy #infodemic #H2020 #mediavaluechain #mediatech #innovation #innovationhub

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Packed two days of #EuropeanCyberAgora in Brussels in partnership with Microsoft and EU Cyber Direct – EU Cyber Diplomacy Initiative and German Marshall Fund of the United States. 👉 Check out the European Cyber Agora agenda: https://shorturl.at/rAQSU ❤️ Loved the fact that there are so many women in this field and this was certainly reflected on the panels and the audience. 🤘 Was also great to have the EU Cyber Direct Fellows there who provided important viewpoints from around the world. 👉 Check out their profiles https://lnkd.in/dBz9VCd8 And yes, the topic of need of talent and need of skills- a topic dear to me-also came up here plenty of times and much needed to safeguard democracy and our economies. Check out OECD - OCDE data here: https://shorturl.at/giHOY and the EU Cybersecurity Competence Center (ECCC) has set up a funding mechanism coordinated through national coordination centers to support capacity building, thanks Dimitra Liveri for moderating and sharing. Big thanks to everyone who made the European Cyber Agora happen, and spoke or attended. Shoutout to Nikolas Ott and team and my dear colleagues Raquel Jorge Ricart Julia Tréhu Meg Platt Martin Quencez Alix FRANGEUL-ALVES Lindsay Gorman ReDI School of Digital Integration Fabio Manca Oscar Pasquali Mirta Michilli #cybersecurity #skills #AI #geopolitics #competitiveness

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On February 2nd, 2022, the Belgian Data Protection Authority (#DPA), the APD (Autorité de Protection des Données), issued a decision against the European Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB Europe) regarding its Transparency and Consent Framework (#TCF). The four main points brought by the #APD against the TCF were the following: 1. The Transparency & Consent (TC) string, the consent signal stored by players in the advertising industry, was considered personal information for which participants need to establish a legal basis, be it consent, legitimate interest, or something else 2. IAB Europe was deemed a data controller of that information, even though it doesn't process the consent information 3. IAB Europe was described as a joint controller with TCF participants (#vendors, #CMPs, #publishers). As a result, the APD considers that it failed to establish a legal basis for processing the TC string 4. The security measures in place to protect the consent signal's integrity were insufficient. IAB Europe was fined EUR250K and ordered to develop an action plan within the next two months. IAB Europe responded by introducing the TCF v2.2, which was released on May 16th, 2023. If you are interested in TCF v2.2, take a look at the article https://lnkd.in/dhrYJ-v6

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Is the EPP Group really a centre-right party ⁉ The latest report of the Centre for European Studies at Mathias Corvinus Collegium - MCC is adamant: our analysis of 86 pieces of legislation reveals 9️⃣ 5️⃣ % alignment with S&D and Renew on four key EU policies. With 100% approval on : 1️⃣ the Migration Pact 👮‍♂️ 2️⃣ Rule of Law 👨‍⚖️ 3️⃣ and Trade Agreements 💹 ...and "only" 90% on the Green Deal 🍏 . Of course, some national delegations (notably the French) took a different stance, but when comparing the EPP´s final votes, the result is cristal-clear. Infinite thanks to the co-authors Damille Devenyi, Yann Caspar, and my other colleagues of the Centre for their great work on that report. 🙏 Dive into the data! 👇 👇 MCC Brussels #EU #EUelections #migration #GreenDeal #RuleofLaw #EPP

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The #DC4EU technical and business experts submitted their #BusinessBlueprint for #SocialSecurityCoordination for further review and feedback. The blueprint aims to transform the EU #socialsecurity systems by introducing universally applicable, trustworthy, #digital, and #decentralised frameworks for the issuance, revocation, and authentication of #entitlementdocuments (#ESSPASS) in #SocialSecurityCoordination and (Qualified) #ElectronicAttestationsofAttributes (#QEAA) or #DigitalCredentials. These credentials are issued by or on behalf of public sector bodies using the European Digital Identity (#EUDI) Architecture, including the European Digital Identity Wallet (#EUDIW). #DC4EU, as part of the Large Scale Pilots (#LSPs), is testing this system set to eliminate media breaks, prioritise #privacy, combat #fraud, and guarantee #citizens’right to #freemovement in real-world scenarios to ensure its feasibility and effectiveness. Read more: https://shorturl.at/GpTG2   #SocialSecurity #DigitalInnovation #EUDI #DigitalIdentity #VerifiableCredentials #EUProjects #BusinessBlueprint #Innovation #DigitalTransformation #DC4EU

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Below you’ll find an interesting, insightful article (in Dutch) in De Tijd, addressing the current industrial challenges in the Euro-Atlantic security and defence sector. Worth reading!

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❗ The energy challenges facing our politicians in the coming decades are enormous. Elia presented an energy compass with the main challenges but, above all, solutions 🗺 Read it here ⬇

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🚨 Update: Digital Factsheets - Vol 3 (mid-2024; end of term version)🚨 Even after five years in Brussels, I was constantly surprised by names of digital laws that I have never heard about before. I decided to change that and thought I know exactly the player, who can help me: the European Commission. Yet, when I called DG Connect in 2019, asking for a list of all EU digital laws, they told me that such a document does not exist. One EU official even admitted that the executive arm of the #EU has lost track of all of its digital initiatives. An idea was born: why not preparing an overview myself. Fast forward to 2024: together with Bruegel - Improving economic policy (in particular: J. Scott Marcus, Kamil Sekut, Hèctor Badenes Rodríguez) I am publishing today the third version of our well-known dataset, the “blue wall” of EU digital regulation. While the 2010 'Digital Agenda' marked the starting point, it was the von der Leyen Commission that released a #tsunami of new proposals. At the end of the 2019-24 legislative term our dataset lists overall 116 legislative items, 87 adopted as EU laws, 21 still in negotiation and 8 remain in planning. 82 EU governance mechanism have been created to implement and enforce the digital legislation. If the 2019-Kai felt already lost, how do young professionals and Brussel newcomers feel in 2024? How should #SMEs and #startups manage to navigate through this jungle? Is #civilsociety really better protected if the legal system becomes so complex that the time and money required to enforce individual rights is getting higher and higher? It is important to me to underline that I do not argue against new EU laws. I do not have anti-regulation sentiments but think that the vast majority of our digital laws makes sense … in principle. However, what needs to be urgently addressed are the numerous overlaps and incoherences that are creating more problems than they are solving. Only then we will avoid creating even more #regulatorymoat that triggers market concentration. Only then we will adequately protect #citizens's #rights in the digital field. Many have said it in #Brussels over the past months: the next legislative term needs to focus on #betterregulation and #enforcement. I hope our policy-makers do still remember those statements once the EU election are over. Access the document here: https://lnkd.in/eMcKnddt

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Finally acknowledging that the naive perception that the world is not a global village. Over-reliance on third countries for one's prosperity only works if there is peace, trust and democratic institutions. None of these three hold these days.. The new Economic Playbook should be accompanied by a New Political Playbook...

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Worth noticing but where should understand this is not the European Digital Identity framework which has to be available to any interested person on the 20th of November 2026 in all states. But the translation to a wallet would not be completely sunk cost on reaching the 2026 deadlines. Starting today achieving the 2026 deadlines would be more enough of a challenge without intermediate steps. https://lnkd.in/djnpeFpt

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