News

In a nutshell: The Council of the EU adopted the Regulation on Geographical Indications protection for agricultural products. The European Commission has presented a recommendation on the EU Intellectual Property toolbox, has opened a call for proposals for an EU repository of public domain works, and has published a delegated act on data centres' energy efficiency. The European Parliament adopted the Cyber Resilience Act, and Artificial Intelligence Act, and jointly with the Council of the EU adopted the EUID Regulation. The European Data Protection Supervisor presented their investigation into the European Commission’s use of Microsoft 365. The NIS Cooperation Group updated the compendium on securing the EU 2024 elections. ENISA published its Foresight report for 2030 cybersecurity threats. EU Member States shared their concern on the Insolvency proposal. Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a position paper on the application of international law in cyberspace.

In a nutshell: The European Commission has published a white paper on digital infrastructure needs and a recommendation on secure submarine cable infrastructure. Members of the European Parliament adopted the Regulation on Geographical indication protection for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, and suggested further amendments to the Framework for Financial Data Access. The European Data Protection Board issued an opinion on the main establishment of a controller under the GDPR. The EU Member States, supported by ENISA and the NIS coordination group, published a report on the cybersecurity and resilience of communications infrastructure. The European Court of Human Rights ruled on encryption in private communications. The German government issued a strategy for international digital policy. The Digital Services Act is now applicable to all intermediaries.

In a nutshell: Belgium took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU for the remainer of the current legislative term. The European Commission is looking into limiting cookie banners, has launched a package of measures to support AI innovation, and is gathering public feedback on application of the GDPR. The European Parliament moves on the Financial Data Access initiative. Geographical indications protection regulations enter the road to implementation. The co-legislators are expected to officially adopt the new EUID Regulation and the AI Act. EU is preparing for elections in June 2024.

In a nutshell: The European Parliament urged the European Commission to reform EU administrative law and digitalisation. The Council of the EU adopted a set of recommendations on enabling factors for digital education, endorsed the agreement on the proposal for a Regulation on geographical indication protection for agricultural products, and agreed on a common position on targeted amendments to the Cybersecurity Act. The European Commission published an implementing regulation for transparency reporting under the Digital Services Act. The NIS Cooperation Group published guidelines on coordinated vulnerability disclosure. The co-legislators reached an agreement on a number of legislative proposals, including the European digital identity regulation and Cyber Resilience Act. The Data Act was adopted.

In a nutshell: The European Commission adopted its Work Programme for 2024, is planning to reform the EU telecom law and boosting investments into connectivity infrastructure, and issued a recommendation on coordinating incident response for the dissemination of illegal content. The EU formally approved the Regulation on geographical indication protection for craft and industrial products. The EU co-legislators reached a deal on the proposal for a Regulation on geographical indication protection for agricultural products. ENISA published its threat landscape report for 2023. The European Court of Auditors issued an opinion on the Cyber Solidarity Act. JURI issued a Draft Report on policy implications of virtual worlds.

In a nutshell: The President of the European Commission delivered the State of the Union 2023 speech. The European Commission published its 2023 Report on the state of the Digital Decade, and issued guidelines on the NIS 2 Directive. The European Parliament adopted the Regulation for the geographical indication protection of craft and industrial products. Europol published the first “spotlight” report, focusing on cyberattacks and crime-as-a-service. The EDPB and EDPS delivered a joint opinion on the proposal for GDPR review.

In a nutshell: The European Commission has published its strategy on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds, complemented by an own-initiative Draft Report from the European Parliament’s IMCO Committee. Trilogues on the agricultural geographical indication proposal continue after the summer break. The Commission published Key Performance Indicators under its Live Piracy Recommendation. A Proposal on Financial Data Access implicates domains. The European Commission adopted an adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, which the EDPB confirmed in a note. The ENISA mandate and EU cybersecurity certification framework are up for evaluation. The path toward trilogues on the Cyber Resilience Act is cleared by the European Parliament’s ITRE Committee and the Council of the European Union. The Spanish Presidency issued a compromise text on the Proposal to combat child sexual abuse online. For some very large actors, the Digital Services Act has started taking effect. The European Parliament and Council have approved a trilogue compromise on the Energy Efficiency Directive.

In a nutshell: The GI proposal for agricultural products is expected to be finalised during the Spanish Presidency. JURI approved new competences for EUIPO to manage the registration of crafts/industrial GIs. The Council of the EU adopted the e-Evidence Regulation, as well as establishing a High-Level Expert Group on access to data for effective law enforcement. The European Parliament and the Council of the EU have reached a provisional political agreement on the European Digital Identity Framework. The European Commission launched four projects to test the European Digital Identity Wallet, published a proposal to review the GDPR, and plans to publish a Recommendation on integrated child protection systems in the EU. ENISA issued recommendations on Digital Identity Standards. IMCO adopted its opinion on the Cyber Resilience Act and approved its draft opinion on the Proposal to combat child sexual abuse online. LIBE published a draft report on the proposal to extend the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime.

In a nutshell: The incoming Spanish Council Presidency has published its work programme for the second half of 2023. The EU institutions are close to finalising the legislation on the GI protection for crafts/industrial products, while trilogues have begun for the proposal for the GI protection for agricultural products. The Commission has opened a call for tender for a study on IP rights enforcement and counterfeiting. The European Parliament’s ITRE Committee has published over 500 amendments to the Cyber Resilience Act. ENISA has published its report on DNS identity and the verification of domain name holders. The Council has shared its conclusions on the EU Policy on Cyber Defence. The European Parliament has approved the e-Evidence Regulation in Plenary. The EDPS has issued Opinions on the Commission Recommendation to open negotiations on International Agreements on the exchange of personal data with five South American states. The CJEU has clarified when a GDPR infringement may give rise to a right to compensation. The Swedish Council Presidency has shared a compromise text on proposed legislation to combat child sexual abuse online. The European Parliament voted on its compromise text and negotiating mandate to enter into interinstitutional trilogues on the AI Act.

In a nutshell: The European institutions have concluded their trilogue negotiations on the GI protection of crafts and industrial products, while the Swedish Council presidency has put forward amendments to the sister proposal on the GI protection for agricultural products. The European Commission published a proposal for a regulation on standard essential patents, and released its recommendation on combatting online piracy. Commissioner Reynders outlined upcoming plans for the revision of the Consumer Protection Cooperation Regulation. Commissioner Breton introduced the European Cyber Shield. The Commission proposed a new Cyber Solidarity Act and a targeted amendment to the Cyber Security Act. In data protection, the EDPS has submitted input on the Commission’s GDPR review, and the EDPB adopted guidelines on data subjects’ right to access. The draft Insolvency Directive attracted submissions from the European Economic and Social Committee and the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The European Parliament’s LIBE Committee has published its draft report on proposed legislation to combat child sexual abuse online.