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Gucci is part of French luxury goods group Kering (PRTP.PA). The European Commission said on Tuesday that antitrust regulators had raided companies in the fashion sector in several EU countries. The Commission, which acts as the competition enforcer in the 27-country EU, did not name the companies or the countries, in line with its policy. The European Commission declined to comment on Wednesday. Companies found guilty of breaching EU rules face fines of as much as 10% of their global turnover.

☆ Exclusive: German authors, performers call for tougher ChatGPT rules amid copyright concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters) - Forty-two German associations and trade unions representing more than 140,000 authors and performers on Wednesday urged the European Union to beef up draft artificial intelligence rules as they singled out the threat to their copyright from ChatGPT. The letter underlined the growing worries about generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT which can mimic humans and create text and images based on prompts. "Generative AI needs to be at the centre of any meaningful AI market regulation," it said. The European Commission, which last year proposed AI rules, will in the coming months thrash out the final details with EU lawmakers and member states before the rules become legislation. The rules should be beefed up to regulate generative AI across the entire product cycle, especially on providers of foundation models, the groups said.

MILAN/BRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators and Italian tax police inspected a facility of luxury goods company Gucci as part of a European Union investigation spanning several countries and companies, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. Gucci is part of French luxury goods group Kering (PRTP.PA). The second source said other fashion companies outside the Kering group had been targeted by similar inspections. The European Commission said on Tuesday that antitrust regulators had raided companies in the fashion sector in several EU countries. The European Commission declined to comment on Wednesday.

☆ Exclusive: Vivendi set to win EU green light for Lagardere deal, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of French media giant Vivendi is seen in Paris, France, January 31, 2022. REUTERS/Violeta Santos MouraBRUSSELS, April 19 (Reuters) - French media conglomerate Vivendi (VIV.PA) is set to win EU antitrust approval to buy Lagardere (LAGA.PA) after its offer to sell Editis and celebrity magazine Gala managed to address competition concerns, people with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by June 14, declined to comment. Vivendi, controlled by billionaire Vincent Bollore, announced the deal last year which would give it control of Lagardere's flagship weekly publications Journal du Dimanche (JDD) and Paris Match. Vivendi is now in talks to sell its publishing division Editis to billionaire Daniel Kretinsky after EU competition enforcers voiced concerns about Lagardere unit Hachette, the world's third-biggest publishing group.

☆ EU proposes $1.2 bln plan to counter growing cybersecurity threats
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, April 18 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Tuesday announced a 1.1-billion-euro ($1.2 billion) plan to counter growing cybersecurity threats, underscoring mounting concerns about a series of high-profile hacking incidents. "The EU Cyber Solidarity Act will strengthen solidarity at Union level to better detect, prepare for and respond to significant or large-scale cybersecurity incidents, by creating a European Cybersecurity Shield and a comprehensive Cyber Emergency Mechanism," the EU executive said in a statement. The Cyber Emergency Mechanism will test entities in highly critical sectors such as healthcare, transport and energy for potential vulnerabilities. The plan also includes setting up a EU Cybersecurity Reserve consisting of incident response services which will intervene at the request of an EU country or institution in the event of a significant or large-scale cybersecurity incident. The Cyber Solidarity Act will require agreement from EU countries and European Parliament before it can become law.

☆ 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.

The size of subsidies under the EU Chips Act, which aims to tempt the world's top chipmakers to build factories in the bloc and double its share of global output to 20% by 2030, lags the $52 billion CHIPS for America Act. Taiwan accounts for more than 60% of global chip production and concerns are growing about heightened tensions between Taipei and Beijing. But Europe's relatively modest subsidies could put a brake on its ambition, said Richard Windsor of research company Radio Free Mobile. GOOD STARTThe EU Chips Act is a good start given the EU has little choice but to join the subsidy race, but the bloc should play to its chipmaking strengths, said Christopher Cytera, research fellow at the Centre for European Policy Analysis. Catching up on the chips race is more than just building factories and the Chips Act acknowledges this with its focus on developing skilled labour for the future, said Anielle Guedes, senior research analyst at IDC Technologies.

☆ EU calls for restraint, calm amid Israel-Palestinian clashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, April 8 (Reuters) - EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Saturday condemned the escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians, urging all parties to exercise restraint and promote calm for the ongoing religious holidays. The EU calls for an immediate end to the ongoing violence. "We urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to avoid further escalation and promote calm for the ongoing religious holidays," he said. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Judaism's Passover and Christian Easter are all occuring this month. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: EU Chips Act likely to get green light on April 18 -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The European Commission announced the Chips Act last year in a bid to cut EU reliance on U.S. and Asian semiconductors following global supply chain problems that hurt European businesses from carmakers to manufacturers. EU countries and lawmakers will meet at the European Parliament's monthly session in Strasbourg on April 18 to negotiate details of funding for the Act and will likely clinch a deal, the people said. Providing funding to the entire value chain also addresses complaints from the smaller EU countries about being left out after Intel (INTC.O), attracted by the Chips Act, picked Germany for its new mega chip manufacturing complex. Franco-Italian company STMicroelectronics has also teamed up with GlobalFoundries (GFS.O) to build a 6.7 billion euro chip factory in France, drawing on funding from the government. ($1 = 0.9163 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Jan Harvey, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Exclusive: EU likely to clinch deal on Chips Act on April 18 - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, April 5 (Reuters) - EU countries and lawmakers are likely to clinch a deal on a multi-billion euro plan to boost the bloc's semiconductor industry on April 18, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. The European Commission announced the Chips Act last year in a bid to cut EU reliance on U.S. and Asian semiconductors following global supply chain problems that hurt European businesses from carmakers to manufacturers. The countries and lawmakers will meet at the European Parliament's monthly session in Strasbourg on April 18 to negotiate details of funding for the act, the people said. Discussions have to date focused on a 400-million-euro ($438 million) shortfall, but the EU executive has managed to come up with the bulk of the funds, they said. ($1 = 0.9132 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nintendo to repair for free unresponsive game controllers, EU says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, April 4 (Reuters) - Japanese gaming company Nintendo (7974.T) has agreed to repair for free beyond the legal guarantee period unresponsive console controllers following complaints from European consumer groups, the European Commission said on Tuesday. Nintendo found itself in the EU spotlight after the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and nine national consumer groups in 2021 complained to the EU executive about its Nintendo Switch console, saying they deteriorate too quickly. This technical problem known as the 'Joy-Con drift' affected both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite consoles. "This is only a short-term fix that will allow consumers to have their defective products repaired for free. Yet Nintendo can still sell the console with the potential bug," BEUC Deputy Director General Ursula Pachl said in a statement.

☆ UBS gets temporary EU green light for Credit Suisse deal, pending review
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, April 4 (Reuters) - UBS (UBSG.S) has secured a temporary green light from EU antitrust regulators to complete its acquisition of Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) but will still have to request clearance under EU merger rules, the European Commission said on Tuesday. UBS came to Credit Suisse's rescue last month with a merger engineered and bankrolled by the Swiss authorities. According to European Union merger rules, companies can only complete deals after securing EU antitrust approval or face fines as much as 10% of their aggregate turnover. The EU antitrust enforcer said the Swiss banks had asked for an exemption from this standstill obligation. "The Commission found that the requirements for a derogation were met and therefore it approved on 4 April 2023 the derogation request subject to conditions."

☆ Orange, Masmovil's Spanish tie-up faces EU antitrust probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, April 3 (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators on Monday warned that Orange (ORAN.PA) and MasMovil's 18.6-billion-euro ($20 billion) Spanish telecoms merger could reduce competition in Spain as they opened a full-scale investigation into the deal. Orange, the second largest telecoms provider in Spain, and fourth-ranked MasMovil announced the deal in July 2022, triggering expectations of more mergers in the sector. This could lead to higher prices and lower quality of telecom services for customers," the Commission said in a statement. "As result of the transaction, Orange and MasMovil would have the ability and incentive to restrict access of virtual operators to wholesale mobile network and wholesale fixed network access services," it said. Orange said it would take the time and the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of the deal to the Commission.

☆ EU car data access rules in progress but no timeline
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Data ownership, however, is not clearly defined in EU law, resulting in the current dispute between carmakers and those who want to access it. "The Commission is working on the preparation of a sector-specific proposal on in-vehicle data. It will aim to complement the proposal for a Data Act, published in February 2022," a spokesperson for the EU executive told Reuters in an email. "At this stage we cannot prejudge the content of the final impact assessment and subsequent timeline for adoption." ($1 = 0.9188 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Car services groups warn of unfair competition as EU data plan stalls
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, March 31 (Reuters) - Car services groups on Friday warned a stalled EU proposal to ensure fair access to valuable vehicle data could pave the way for unfair competition from U.S. and Chinese tech companies. Car services groups are already concerned about the small number of players in the industry with access to the data, said Benjamin Krieger, secretary general of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA). Unfair access could soon mean the sector "will be dominated by players from the United States and China", he told reporters. Car makers in turn said the Commission's proposed Data Act gives users control over data generated by vehicles, providing third parties fair and non-discriminatory access to the data. Last month, Mercedes Benz (MBGn.DE) teamed up with Google to offer traffic information and automatic rerouting in its cars.

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.

☆ Exclusive: Google says Microsoft's cloud practices anti-competitive, slams deals with rivals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 30 (Reuters) - Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google Cloud has accused Microsoft (MSFT.O) of anti-competitive cloud computing practices and criticised imminent deals with European cloud vendors, saying these do not solve broader concerns about its licensing terms. Google Cloud Vice President Amit Zavery urged EU antitrust regulators to take a closer look at the issue. Google Cloud's first public comments on Microsoft and its EU deals underscores the rivalry between the two U.S. tech giants in the multi-billion-dollar cloud computing business where Google trails market leader Amazon (AMZN.O) and second-ranked Microsoft. He criticised Microsoft's deals with smaller European cloud vendors. Microsoft has offered to change its cloud computing practices in a deal with smaller rivals which in turn will suspend their antitrust complaints, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters this week.

☆ Exclusive: Google says Microsoft cloud practices are anti-competitive
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BRUSSELS, March 30 (Reuters) - Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google Cloud has accused Microsoft (MSFT.O) of anti-competitive cloud computing practices and criticised imminent deals with several European cloud vendors, saying these do not solve broader concerns about its licensing terms. In response, Microsoft referred to a blogpost in May last year where its president Brad Smith said it 'has a healthy number two position when it comes to cloud services, with just over 20 percent market share of global cloud services revenues'. "We are committed to the European Cloud Community and their success," a Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday. There is intense rivalry between the two U.S. tech giants in the fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar cloud computing business, where Google trails market leader Amazon (AMZN.O) and Microsoft. 'UNFAIR ADVANTAGE'Zavery said individual deals struck with several smaller European cloud vendors only benefit Microsoft.

☆ Monster Energy accuses Red Bull of targeting it with anti-competitive tactics
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Cans of Monster energy drinks sit on display at a Sainsbury's store in London, Britain, August 30, 2018. REUTERS/Simon DawsonBRUSSELS, March 29 (Reuters) - Energy drinks maker Monster Beverage Corp's (MNST.O) Monster Energy has accused Red Bull of targeting it with anti-competitive practices after Red Bull was raided by European Union antitrust regulators last week. "We are therefore not surprised by the Commission's decision to commence an investigation into Red Bull in multiple Member States under Articles 101 and 102. Red Bull confirmed the EU raids, while declining to comment on Monster Energy's allegations. Any such matter is for the EU Commission and any requests for further information should be directed to them," a Red Bull spokesperson told Reuters.

☆ Microsoft offers to change cloud computing practices after rivals' complaint, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, March 28 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) has offered to change its cloud computing practices to settle antitrust complaints filed by its smaller rivals in three EU countries to EU antitrust regulators, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday. French cloud computing services provider OVHcloud (OVH.PA), Italian cloud service provider Aruba and a Danish association of cloud service providers had complained to the European Commission about Microsoft's cloud practices and licensing deals. Reporting by Foo Yun CheeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ Microsoft offers to change cloud practices to ward off EU antitrust probe-source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, March 28 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) has offered to change its cloud computing practices to settle antitrust complaints filed by its smaller rivals, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday, a move that will stave off an EU investigation. French cloud computing services provider OVHcloud (OVH.PA), Italian cloud service provider Aruba and a Danish association of cloud service providers had complained to the European Commission about Microsoft's cloud practices and licensing deals. Microsoft said: "We are grateful for the productive conversations that led us there and appreciate the feedback that we have received since." Trade group CISPE, which counts cloud computing market leader Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) as one of its members, said it was not part of the settlement. Reuters reported last week that rivals wanted Microsoft to do more to resolve their complaints after an initial offer fell short.

☆ Europol sounds alarm about criminal use of ChatGPT, sees grim outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A smartphone with a displayed ChatGPT logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken February 23, 2023. It singled out the harmful use of ChatGPT in three areas of crime. "ChatGPT's ability to draft highly realistic text makes it a useful tool for phishing purposes," Europol said. It said ChatGPT's ability to churn out authentic sounding text at speed and scale also also makes it an ideal tool for propaganda and disinformation. Criminals with little technical knowledge could turn to ChatGPT to produce malicious code, Europol said.

BRUSSELS, March 27 (Reuters) - Alitalia, the predecessor of Italian state-owned airline ITA Airways, will have to repay a 400 million-euro ($430 million) loan to the Italian government because the money breached EU state aid rules, EU competition authorities said on Monday. Italy granted the loan in 2019, two years after giving a 900 million-euro loan to keep the loss-making company operating. The European Commission, which acts as the competition watchdog in the 27-country bloc, subsequently ruled that both loans constituted illegal state aid. The Commission had in 2021 it ordered Alitalia to repay the 900-million-euro illegal loan. Successive governments pumped an estimated 10 billion euros into Alitalia to keep it afloat in its last 14 years of life, despite heavy losses and bad management.

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