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☆ E.U. Approves Microsoft’s $69 Billion Deal for Activision
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Adam Satariano | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

American and British regulators said Microsoft’s purchase of Activision would undercut this still-developing sector of the gaming industry before it had a chance to bloom. After negotiating the concessions with Microsoft, European Union officials said they concluded that the deal could go through, particularly because the cloud gaming market is still so small. In the European Union, PlayStation has a much larger market share than Xbox. Authorities also noted that Microsoft and Activision have a relatively small market share for mobile games, which accounts for about half of the overall video game market in European Union. The approval is a rare occasion where European regulators appear to be more accommodating to the tech industry than the United States.

☆ EU and US to pledge joint action over China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Philip Blenkinsop | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, May 13 (Reuters) - Washington and the EU will pledge joint action to tackle concerns focused on China about non-market practices and coordinate their export controls on semiconductors and other goods at a meeting this month, a draft statement showed. Brussels says it considers China a partner in some fields, an economic competitor and a strategic rival. The European Union plans to recalibrate its China policy, recognising coordination with a more hawkish United States is essential. Highlighting the medical devices sector in China, the document said the transatlantic partners are "exploring possible actions" over the threat posed by non-market policies and practices. The two sides also said they were committed to working with the G7 to coordinate action to counteract acts of economic coercion, such as the trade restrictions the EU says China has imposed on EU member Lithuania.

☆ EU's Vestager says 'all options on the table' after Lufthansa/SAS rulings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The court sided with Ryanair (RYA.I) in annulling the EU's decision clearing the German government's 6-billion-euro ($6.6 billion) rescue package for Lufthansa. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said she was analysing the rulings as a matter of urgency, aware of the uncertainty on the market. "While it is too early to give any indication as to what the appropriate course of action may be, at this stage all options are on the table," Vestager said in a statement. "There is no immediate and direct link between today's judgments and the ongoing work on the future restructuring of SAS." Reporting by Foo Yun Chee, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Siemens, SAP say EU draft Data Act puts trade secrets at risk
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A sign with the logo of Siemens company is on display outside its office in Moscow, Russia, May 12, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaBRUSSELS, May 8 (Reuters) - German business software maker SAP (SAPG.DE) and German engineering company Siemens (SIEGn.DE) have joined U.S. tech giants in criticising draft EU laws on the use of data generated by smart gadgets and other consumer goods. EU countries and EU lawmakers are working on the details of the Data Act, proposed by the European Commission last year before it can be adopted as legislation. U.S. criticisms have included that the proposed law is too restrictive, while the German companies say a provision forcing companies to share data with third parties to provide aftermarket or other data-driven services could endanger trade secrets. "Effectively, this could mean that EU companies will have to disclose data to third-country competitors, notably those not operating in Europe and against which the Data Act's safeguards would be ineffective," they said.

☆ G-7 should adopt 'risk-based' A.I. regulation, ministers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

European Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager gives a press conference in Brussels, Belgium on Feb. 1, 2023. (Photo by Dursun Aydemir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)Group of Seven advanced nations should adopt "risk-based" regulation on artificial intelligence, their digital ministers agreed on Sunday, as European lawmakers hurry to introduce an AI Act to enforce rules on emerging tools such as ChatGPT. But such regulation should also "preserve an open and enabling environment" for the development of AI technologies and be based on democratic values, G-7 ministers said in a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting in Japan. "The conclusions of this G-7 meeting show that we are definitely not alone in this," European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager told Reuters ahead of the agreement. Governments have especially paid attention to the popularity of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by Microsoft -backed OpenAI that has become the fastest-growing app in history since its November launch.

☆ G7 should adopt 'risk-based' AI regulation, ministers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But such regulation should also "preserve an open and enabling environment" for the development of AI technologies and be based on democratic values, G7 ministers said in a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting in Japan. EU lawmakers on Thursday reached a preliminary agreement on a new draft of its upcoming AI Act, including copyright protection measures for generative AI, following a call for world leaders to convene a summit to control such technology. Vestager, EU's tech regulation chief, said the bloc "will have the political agreement this year" on the AI copyright legislation, such as labelling obligations for AI-generated images or music. Japan, this year's chair of G7, meanwhile, has taken an accommodative approach on AI developers, pledging support for public and industrial adoption of AI. Japan will host the G7 Summit in Hiroshima in late May, where Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will discuss AI rules with world leaders.

☆ EU tech tsar Vestager sees political agreement on AI law this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TAKASAKI, April 30 (Reuters) - European Union tech regulation chief Margrethe Vestager said on Sunday the bloc will likely reach a political agreement this year that will pave the way for the world's first major artificial intelligence (AI) legislation. This would follow a preliminary deal reached on Thursday on the EU's Artificial Intelligence Act. In an interview with Reuters at a Group of Seven digital ministers' meeting in Takasaki, Japan, Vestager suggested legislative measures for the use of AI tools, such as "labelling obligations for AI-generated images". "There was no reason to hesitate and to wait for the legislation to be passed to accelerate the necessary discussions to provide the changes in all the systems where AI will have an enormous influence," she added, when asked about steps before any agreement takes force. Reporting by Kantaro Komiya in Takasaki, Japan; Additional reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU simplifies procedures for merger reviews
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, April 20 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Thursday said it would simplify its procedures for reviewing mergers, in a bid to reduce reporting requirements for companies by 25%. The new procedures will allow the Commission, the bloc's anti-trust watchdog, to treat more mergers under the so-called simplified procedure. It will also streamline the review of cases and optimise the transmission of documents to the Commission, it said in a statement. The new rules will be applicable from Sept. 1. Reporting by Bart Meijer, editing by Tassilo HummelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU takes on United States, Asia with chip subsidy plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 18 (Reuters) - The European Union on Tuesday agreed a 43 billion euro ($47 billion) plan for its semiconductor industry in an attempt to catch up with the United States and Asia and start a green industrial revolution. The EU Chips Act, proposed by the European Commission last year and confirmed by Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, aims to double the bloc's share of global chip output to 20% by 2030 and follows the U.S. CHIPS for America Act. "We need chips to power digital and green transitions or healthcare systems," Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager said in a tweet. Since the announcement of its chips subsidies plan last year, the EU has already attracted more than 100 billion euros in public and private investments, an EU official said. While the Commission had originally proposed funding only cutting-edge chip plants, EU governments and lawmakers have widened the scope to cover the whole value chain, including older chips and research and design facilities.

☆ EU urges firm results, green alliance from US trade talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 12 (Reuters) - The United States and the European Union need to produce clear results next month from their forum on trade and technology and forge closer ties on green products and technology, European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Wednesday. "We should also be aiming to move forward on digital and sustainable trade," Dombrovskis said. The transatlantic partners should, he said, help set common standards for green goods and technologies, ensure fair competition and build resilient supply chains. Dombrovskis said the two should work to align the domestic supports of the IRA and the EU Green Deal, so "turbo-charging" the green transition. In my view, we should be aiming for nothing less than a green transatlantic marketplace," Dombrovskis said.

ChatGPT has an "absence of any legal basis that justifies the massive collection and storage of personal data" to "train" the chatbot, Garante said. OpenAI has 20 days to respond with remedies or could risk a fine of up to 4% of its annual worldwide turnover. ChatGPT was still answering questions posted by Italian users on the platform on Friday evening. Italy, which provisionally restricted ChatGPT's use of domestic users' personal data, became the first Western country to take action against a chatbot powered by artificial intelligence. The European Commission, which is debating the EU AI Act, may not be inclined to ban AI, European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager tweeted.

☆ EU's Vestager optimistic for U.S.-EU battery minerals deal similar to Japan's
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday that she is optimistic that an electric vehicle battery minerals trade agreement can soon be reached with the United States that is similar in substance to this week's U.S.-Japan deal. Vestager told reporters in Washington that European Union and U.S. negotiators are working on legal frameworks that would be different from the Japan deal. "And that is what has been holding up things, but we are quite optimistic that we can reach an agreement about the same sort of substantial scope as the Japanese." Reporting by David LawderOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: EU patent body to oversee tech-standard patent royalties -EU draft rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Some standards entail thousands of essential patents, and their owners are required to offer licenses on fair and reasonable terms. The EUIPO should administer the procedure," said the European Commission document seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The draft regulation requires EUIPO to set up a register of standard essential patents (SEP) and companies to sign up if they want to charge patent fees or take legal action. European Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager is scheduled to announce the draft regulation on April 26, according to a Commission agenda. The draft rules need to be agreed with EU countries and the European Parliament before they can become law.

☆ Exclusive: EU patent body to be involved in tech-standard patent royalties -EU draft rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Standard-essential patents cover technology that devices must include to comply with international standards like 4G, Wi-Fi and USB. Some standards entail thousands of essential patents, and their owners are required to offer licenses on fair and reasonable terms. "The FRAND determination procedure should simplify and speed up negotiations concerning FRAND terms and reduce costs. FRAND (fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory) terms are often used in relation to technical standards that are developed through an industry-led standardisation process. "This is necessary because disagreements about the FRAND terms are the main reason to seek recourse in courts," the document said.

☆ EU competition chief flags fresh probes into multinationals' tax deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 20 (Reuters) - EU regulators are likely to open investigations into tax deals between EU countries and multinationals after reviewing their arrangements in the previous decade, the bloc's competition chief warned on Monday. European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, who has ordered Apple (AAPL.O) to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland and Amazon (AMZN.O) 250 million euros to Luxembourg, among a dozen cases, has said such tax deals amount to illegal tax breaks. Despite her crackdown, Vestager said aggressive tax planning "is still with us". She did, however, get the court's backing for her order to Engie to pay back taxes of 120 million euros to Luxembourg. And Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have all changed their tax practices in response to her tax crusade.

☆ EU Draft Law Sets Out Moves to Secure Critical Energy Transition Materials
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Yusuf Khan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

According to draft legislation seen by The Wall Street Journal, the Critical Raw Materials Act aims to set standards and promote policy designed to ensure Europe has the metals and minerals it deems necessary for its energy transition and defense and energy security. The Critical Raw Materials Act will also make it easier to mine and process the materials within the bloc; establish a European Critical Minerals Board; identify strategic projects to mine, process and recycle the materials; and work to ensure those projects have quick permitting and sufficient funding. It also said the EU should be able to extract 10% and process 40% of its strategic raw material needs while also expanding recycling capacity so that 15% of consumption can come from secondary sources by 2030. Other countries such as Japan have put in place similar plans to secure raw materials. Raw materials projects could also be labeled as being in the public interest or as strategic, which could further streamline funding.

☆ EU Draft Law Sets Out Moves to Secure Supply of Critical Energy Transition Materials
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Yusuf Khan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

According to draft legislation seen by The Wall Street Journal, the Critical Raw Materials Act aims to set standards and promote policy designed to ensure Europe has the metals and minerals it deems necessary for its energy transition and defense and energy security. The Critical Raw Materials Act will also make it easier to mine and process the materials within the bloc; establish a European Critical Minerals Board; identify strategic projects to mine, process and recycle the materials; and work to ensure those projects have quick permitting and sufficient funding. The purchasing system would negotiate with global sellers but will be structured to comply with EU competition law. Other countries such as Japan have put in place similar plans to secure raw materials. Raw materials projects could also be labeled as being in the public interest or as strategic, which could further streamline funding.

☆ Europe to Target ‘Big Fish’ Companies in New Foreign-Subsidy Rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Kim Mackrael | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

EU Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said the European Commission would attempt to keep red tape to a minimum. BRUSSELS—The European Union will aim to minimize the burden on companies to comply with tough new rules for reporting foreign subsidies, the bloc’s competition chief said, focusing instead on what she referred to as the “big fish” that distort the European market. The new foreign-subsidy rules, set to take effect later this year, could allow the EU to bar companies from making certain acquisitions or winning large public contracts if they previously received government aid that regulators consider to be distortive.

☆ EU's Vestager says scrutiny of competition in metaverse already needed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - The metaverse, shared virtual worlds accessible via the Internet, is the next digital market to attract regulatory scrutiny, EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday. "It's already time for us to start asking what healthy competition would look like in the metaverse," Vestager said a conference organised by Keystone Strategy. Vestager asked whether it would change the equation when there are competing digital realities and language AI models like ChatGPT. She said regulatory scrutiny of digital markets has been escalating worldwide in the last three years. "And there's a much wider political debate that digital markets need careful attention.

☆ EU Ire Over Biden’s Green Subsidies Eases as Bloc Weighs Countermeasures
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Kim Mackrael | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

EU Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said some industries, such as wind turbines, could be drawn by U.S. subsidies. BRUSSELS—Europe is dialing back its criticism of U.S. clean-energy subsidies, after months of denunciations of the measures contained in a package of climate, tax and healthcare legislation signed by President Biden last year. European Union Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager , one of the bloc’s leading voices on the issue, said in an interview that closer analysis of the subsidies suggests the main threats to European competitiveness will be limited to a handful of sectors.

☆ Europe Tempers Criticism of Biden’s Green Subsidies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Kim Mackrael | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

EU Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager said some industries, such as wind turbines, could be drawn by U.S. subsidies. BRUSSELS—Europe is dialing back its criticism of U.S. clean-energy subsidies, after months of denunciations of the measures contained in a package of climate, tax and healthcare legislation signed by President Biden last year. European Union Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager , one of the bloc’s leading voices on the issue, said in an interview that a closer analysis of the subsidies suggests the main threats to European competitiveness will be limited to a handful of sectors.

☆ Privacy Regulators Step Up Oversight of AI Use in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Catherine Stupp | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

European privacy regulators are intensifying their scrutiny of companies’ use of artificial intelligence, hiring experts and opening new units to crack down on data violations. “AI is appearing in all sectors,” said Kari Laumann, head of a division for research, analysis and policy at Norway’s data protection authority. The regulator’s office has worked with 64 companies to test AI initiatives under its supervision, in a program started in 2020. Regulators have fined companies for privacy failings in their AI applications in recent years, but European data protection officials and privacy analysts say it is still unclear how to apply some aspects of European privacy law to the technology. Mr. Jairaj said he expects the EU’s coming legislation to force companies to look closely at third-party suppliers of AI products.

☆ In EU car data tussle, insurers and others brace for delays, disappointment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Companies in Europe and beyond are vying for control of the crown jewels of the connected car era, namely car manufacturers' data covering everything from driving habits, to fuel consumption and tyre wear which can be used to target cash-generating services. Although the EU is currently haggling over the Data Act, a draft law governing the use of consumer and corporate data, insurers and others are pushing for auto sector-specific regulation. A proposal is expected soon after the European Commission launched a consultation last year. Ten industry groups also wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in January urging an end to "repeated delays". A spokesperson for the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) said the Data Act would guarantee fair access to car data, so "additional legislation on access to in-vehicle data is unlikely to achieve more".

☆ Eleven EU countries urge 'great caution' in loosening state aid rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Gabriela Baczynska | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Eleven European Union countries urged "great caution" in relaxing the bloc's state aid rules in a bid to support Europe's green industry in a global race, saying that risked damaging competition inside the bloc, a document showed. The Commission proposed easing EU restrictions on state aid for investments in renewable energy or decarbonising industry, partly in response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act. "EU state aid rules should be designed taking into account the value added at the level of EU as a whole. EU state aid rules should protect the level playing field on the EU internal market," it said. The European Commission initially also proposed creating a special fund meant to help poorer EU countries dole out more state aid.

☆ Biden's IRA has left Europe blind-sided. And playing catchup could lead to 2 big mistakes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"U.S. legislation doesn't pass overnight," Emre Peker, director at the consultancy group Eurasia, told CNBC, adding that the EU could have acted faster. Luisa Santos, deputy director at BusinessEurope, a group of business federations, told CNBC that "it is still a bit early to say who will invest where." watch nowBelgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo told CNBC that more state aid "is not a good answer." Several other experts have also raised concerns about easing state aid rules. Slow to respondIn addition to challenges with state aid relaxation, timing is also a risk.

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