Insights | EU Insight, 29 April 2022

20/05/2022

EU Insight, 29 April 2022

Brussels, 29 April 2022

 

INSTITUTIONS REACH A POLITICAL AGREEMENT ON THE DIGITAL SERVICES ACT

The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on the Digital Services Act (DSA) that will regulate online intermediaries that provide services in the EU. The legislation introduces obligations proportionately to the type of services and size of network – very large online platform (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs) will be subject to more requirements. Such platforms will be required to perform systemic risk analysis and carry out risk reduction analysis as well as offer users a system for content recommendation that is not based on their profile. The new rules will also tackle issues such as dark patterns and protection of minors online.

 

RUSSIA USES GAS AS A BLACKMAIL AND EUROJUST TO GAIN MORE LEGAL AUTHORITY

The Commission proposed to amend the Eurojust Regulation to give the agency legal authority to collect and share evidence on war crimes in relation to the war in Ukraine. While the national authorities are already collecting evidence on potential crimes, evidence cannot be preserved securely in Ukraine and should be stored in a central back-up storage of Eurojust on a more permanent basis. Additionally, following the Gazprom cease of delivery of gas to Poland and Bulgaria, the Commission President von der Leyen published a statement commenting that Russia’s blackmail is unacceptable and stressing that the Commission is taking measures to limit the impact on the EU.

 

COUNCIL AND PARLIAMENT STRIKE AGREEMENT ON BANKING RESOLUTION RULES

The Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement on the proposed rules modifying the current bank resolution framework (the so-called “daisy chain” proposal), presented by the Commission in October 2021 as part of new Banking Package. As the “daisy chain” proposal was fast-tracked in comparison to the other two proposed texts in the Package, co-legislators now found common ground as concerns avoiding double-counting of loss-absorbing capital within a banking group. Moreover, it was agreed to introduce a transitional regime of two years for banks allowing the separate resolution of subsidiaries located in different countries. The co-legislators will now need to approve the provisional agreement before it can be adopted.

 

PARLIAMENT AGREES ON FIRST POSITION ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RULES

The European Parliament’s Committee for the Internal Market and Justice and Home Affairs published their first set of amendments to the proposed Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act. The two Committees agreed on introducing around 300 changes to the original Commission proposal, extending in particular the list of high-risk AI systems and prohibited practices. Moreover, the draft position stresses the importance of data protection and privacy and thus aligns certain provisions with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), considering that the two Regulations should be complementary. MEPs are now invited to submit their envisioned changes to the proposal, which should be voted upon in October 2022.

 

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR A RIGHT TO INITIATE LEGISLATION

The Committee on Constitutional Affairs voted in favour of a resolution proposing to give the Parliament a right to initiate legislation on matters where the democratic legitimacy and sovereignty of the European Union are at hand. The document calls for new rules with the Commission and the Council that would allow to avoid deadlocks when Parliament uses its right of initiative on institutional matters. The draft report will be tabled to be voted upon at the June plenary session in Strasbourg.

 

COMING UP NEXT WEEK

  • 2 May: Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (Energy). On the agenda: Russia’s demands for rouble payments, contingency plans, reform of energy prices in Spain and Portugal.
  • 2 – 5 May: European Parliament plenary session. On the agenda: EU action plan for organic agriculture, Artificial Intelligence in a digital age, Debate with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Europe’s Strategic Autonomy, follow-up to the Conference on the Future of Europe, the social and economic consequences for the EU of the Russian war in Ukraine, Discharge 2020, state of play on the EU-Moldova cooperation.
  • 3 May: College of Commissioners meeting. On the agenda: Renewed strategic partnership with the outermost regions, European health data space.
  • 3 May: Informal video conference of economy and finance ministers. On the agenda: Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).
  • 3 May: Eurogroup (video conference). On the agenda: New draft workplan to complete the Banking Union.

 

Karl Isaksson, Managing Partner Brussels, Kreab

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Kreab • Tel: +32 2 737 6900 • karl.isaksson@kreab.comwww.kreab.com/brussels • Twitter: @KreabEU.