The EU is by now in full COVID-19 crisis mode, the institutions are working from home, including plenary sessions of the European Parliament that allowed for the first time ever remote voting by email. Member States are asking and will get an extension on all transposition deadlines and legislative proposals as well as consultations - think platforms liability, AI, data strategy, terrorist content - will certainly be delayed.
This and previous reports on Meta-Wiki: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Monitor
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COVID-19 Delays
Talking to the European Commission these days you can hear varying messages, from “Everything is on hold” to “The momentum is not lost”. Work is continuing on most files, as even bureaucrats need to work on something from home, but the pace is expected to drop significantly.
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The Copyright Reform transposition deadline which is 7 June 2021 will be postponed. This is not a measure specific to the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, but will be a general rule for all EU law. Some Member States have asked the Commission for such a move and the Secretary General has replied in the affirmative.
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A consultation on the Digital Services Act (DSA), an initiative to reshape the EU’s rules on platform liability that was supposed to be published by the end of March has been delayed without a new indicative date. We might still see a legislative proposal by the end of the year, but that is looking like an uncertain bet.
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Be more responsible: The credo that platforms need to be “more responsible” is taking actual shape in the midst of the crisis. The large platforms, often criticised for their dominant positions, are now becoming partners of many national governments and the Commission. They are taking a much more aggressive approach toward content moderation, prioritising government information and throttling bandwidth usage. At the same time, they admit that due to the moderation personnel shortages during the pandemics they rely more and more on AI. That, as they themselves admit, may not be perfect at all. The responsible Commissioner, French Thierry Breton, is having regular calls with CEOs. In the past lawmakers have accused big tech of being uncooperative while platforms have been fighting attempts at government mandated content moderation. How this new dynamic will play once we are back to the legislative drawing board remains to be seen, but the politics of internet regulation have changed. There is talk that the Commission would be willing to grant liability protections for platforms that are more active in moderating content. Currently the inverse is the case.
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Meanwhile, MEP Petra Kammerevert (S&D DE) of the Culture Committee (CULT) has published two committee draft opinions on the DSA. They are very brief and highlight the key fundamental rules by which the EU should abide while setting up the new rules, namely that automated systems should not replace human review and that judicial overview needs to be ensured. The text also suggests that a sector-specific approach would be wise. These drafts will now be open to all MEPs from the relevant committees (the first one to Legal AffairsCulture, the second to Civil Liberties) to propose amendments before being voted on in committee and then plenary. A credible timeline is not available, although rumour has it that JURI MEP Tiemo Woelken promised to present under the EP’s consideration the so called own initiative report he is in charge of, in time - end of May. . The CULT drafts are online:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CULT-PA-648593_EN.pdf
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/CULT-PA-648588_EN.pdf
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On Artificial Intelligence the European Commission published a White Paper and a respective public consultation. The original goal was to have a legislative proposal by year’s end, but that’s of course unclear now. The political will is to lay down rules for such technology before it becomes as big and as dominant (and thus hard to regulate) as the largest online platforms. It seems like the legislator is mainly looking for clear legal requirements that are directed at the actors responsible for producing and operating AI tools. At the same time they don’t want to scare off investment and stifle innovation. We invite you to collaboratively draft consultation answers with us!
White Paper: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/commission-white-paper-artificial-intelligence-feb2020_en.pdf
Consultation: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/white-paper-artificial-intelligence-european-approach-excellence-and-trust
Meta-Wiki Consultation Page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/EU_policy/Consultation_on_the_White_Paper_on_Artificial_Intelligence_(2020)
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Terrorist Content Regulation (TERREG):Now that the trilogues are put on hold due to the work-from-home mode, we still hear that conversations on the file continue unofficially. This gives us time to weigh in, and it is especially important in Member States. If you can, we need you to contact your government about this as well as your relevant MEPs. Talking to organisations that work with vulnerable groups is also useful. These could be those working with refugees, minorities, whistleblowers; on climate crisis, on counter-radicalisation, on human rights abuses. Their community and work will be affected by these measures. They need to know this and they need to get vocal now. Finally, if you know media organisations (Reporters Without Borders, unions of journalists, etc.) and journalists (reporters and investigative journalists as well) - same thing. Writing about EU legislation is rarely the news of the day, but they should get interested and speak to their government about protecting their space for adequate reporting and sources.
As usual, we are happy to help with some who-is-who orientation for the Members of European Parliament and for key talking points.
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Fake News Fines in Hungary are a real thing now with the state of emergency law passed by the parliament in Budapest yesterday. Individuals who publicise what are viewed as untrue facts and which could interfere with the protection of the public, or could alarm a large number of people can now face fines and time in prison.
More on Politico: https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-viktor-orban-rule-by-decree/ber of people — now face several years in jail.
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Big Fat Brussels Meeting
Our beloved EU policy meeting was postponed indefinitely due to the state of emergency in Belgium. Depending on how the situation develops we will either try to have a gathering at year’s end or switch the format and replace it with issue-specific online discussions.
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