The Coalition for App Fairness has published a letter pressuring the European Commission to re-open its DMA enforcement against Apple, they've got a few additional signatories as well. But it's the same old story. They're not happy with what they've already won and they want more

Well, it's happening. European regulators have decided that they want to use the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to make Google Search worse for all European users, so they can prop up European rivals and protect them from competition from Google.

171 drivers complained. The fine was €825 million. The two numbers are unrelated — and that's the problem. www.reuters.com/world/dutch...

Social media bans are politically seductive. Protect children, draw a bright line, declare the problem solved. But Europe is discovering that curbing social media is much easier to promise than to design, enforce or justify.

Big news for European app developers, Apple is making further changes to its business terms to meet EC requirements under the DMA. It's restructured and simplified its terms, reduced rates, scraped the Core Technology Fee and replaced it with a Core Technology Commission.

Early this week the European Parliament agreed on its annual Competition Policy Report in plenary, meaning it's the Parliament's consolidated take on what EU competition policy should focus on and how it should adapt to present challenges. Let's dive in 🤿

Earlier today the Commission announced that it was accepting binding commitments from SAP to address competition concerns in the way SAP was leveraging its software and services ecosystem and foreclosing rivals in aftermarket support services for ERP software. two important notes

Chat Control 1.0 barely passes with a protection for end-to-end encryption, on the vote in parliament moments ago. Here's the key amendment:

Last week marked the start of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. We wrote a letter congratulating them on the start of their mandate and an ambitious agenda, with three priorities that will help Europe simplify digital rules, protect creativity, and make online spaces safer.

🥵 We've got another scorching hot day in Brussels, it's the second week like this, and it's not even July yet. 🌬️But the discourse around air conditioning in Europe is skewed. We need a different approach. 🧊Cool is Progressive🇪🇺 progresschamber.org/insights/eur...

Cool Is Progressive: Europe Needs Air Conditioning

Heat killed more than 61,000 Europeans in 2022. The progressive case for clean, efficient air conditioning as basic public-health infrastructure.

progresschamber.org

Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft and Amazon are set to become designated as Gatekeepers under the EU's Digital Markets Act, the regime of ex-ante regulation of a handful of tech platforms. I've been working on the DMA for over five years, let me tell you what this means.

In his latest Most Favoured Nation newsletter, Sam Lowe highlights the recent US Section 301 trade investigation into German purchasing of pharmaceuticals and sees some potential parallels with respect to digital trade. It's an insightful piece that's worth looking at 👇

"What we are doing now is going to determine so much ... You either choose to take the side of the oppressor, or you actively take a stand." Inspiring conversation at the @techforpalestine.org event here in Brussels with special guest Greta Thunberg and host @paulbiggar.com.

Had the pleasure of a front row seat at today's GCR event in Brussels, with DMA head of unit Lucia Bonova and the fireside chat with Freshfields' Andreas von Bonin, and three statements on DMA enforcement really stood out. Let me share in case these seeds bear fruit.

Earlier this month Chamber of Progress' VP for Europe @kayjebelli.bsky.social spoke on the opening panel of the EU-Startups Summit about the challenges and opportunities related to the European Commission's proposal for a 28th corporate law regime, EU Inc.

I'm sorry but this is getting to be a bit of a farce. The Commission again putting pressure on Google to make changes to the search results page, threatening fines, but not actually offering guidance or clarification

“Such a far reaching intervention requires a much more calibrated feature-by-feature assessment. Unfortunately, this two-week consultation is far too short to get to the bottom of it,” says @kayjebelli.bsky.social Read our full statement here: progresschamber.org/news/europea...

European Commission’s Proposed Measures for Google Android Interoperability Risk Breaking Ecosystem Dynamics : - Chamber of Progress

Hasty Action Carries Significant Risks

progresschamber.org

European MEPs are raising the alarm in Europe, in what is another case of policy conflict making Europeans weaker, poorer, and more vulnerable. Here, we have AI safety policy (and some industrial policy) delaying Europeans' access to frontier AI cybersecurity capabilities

“The Commission’s decision to propose de-anonymising Europeans’ search data and giving it to Google’s rivals is an unprecedented breach of trust and user privacy,” said @kayjebelli.bsky.social Read our full statement here >> progresschamber.org/news/europea...

European Commission’s Proposed Measures for Google Search Data Raise Privacy Alarm Bells : - Chamber of Progress

Unprecedented User Data Exposure Should Not Proceed

progresschamber.org

Tomorrow I'm traveling to Malta for the EU Startups Summit! I've got the privilege of speaking on the first panel on the 7th of May, on EU startup policy and the EU Inc. proposal. Let me know if you'll be there, I'd love to catch up over a coffee!

Another complaint against Google for AI Overviews, is Google going to have to withdraw AI Overviews from Europe? www.mlex.com/mlex/articl...

The Commission has dropped its 3-year review of the DMA and there's actually a lot to unpack here. 🟩 Focus on enforcement of existing rules 🟥 Dismissive of negative user impacts and compliance costs 🟩 Looking at procedural changes 🟥 Likely to designate new AI services 🧵⬇️

Reporter: What do you make of Republicans saying that Virginia— AOC: Wah wah wah. We have asked Republicans for 10 years to ban partisan gerrymandering. And for 10 years, Republicans have said no. What they’re just mad at is that they have been accustomed to a Democratic Party that rolls over.

If this narrative keeps playing out we're not going to see the kind of meaningful reform that we need in Europe in order to be a digitally competitive bloc. We're struck with two major fallacies here. www.mlex.com/mlex/articl...

Europe’s AI future depends on getting the balance right. The European Commission’s Digital Omnibus on AI is a step towards simpler, more innovation-friendly rules, but more work is needed.

Bold new direction on European competition enforcement against US tech? ... I don't think so. pro.politico.eu/news/215958

The European Parliament committee that helped draft the EU's Digital Markets Act regulating US big tech companies, has a resolution on DMA enforcement in advance of the EC's own statutory DMA review deadline, and it presents a challenge for the overstretched enforcer 👇

The European Commission announced its proposal for a 28th company law regime (“EU Inc”) today that will give startup founders the option of a single legal entity that can operate seamlessly across the 27 European Member States.

@Google.com and Hungarian publishers reportedly clashed today before the EU's highest court in a case with huge *potential* to define or even remake EU © law as plaintiffs urge; @Google.com argues the CJEU needn't and shouldn't.... 👀🧵⤵️

Google is making further changes to its search result page in Europe, in order to placate European Commission demands. It's been a long back and forth of shifting goalposts, but we might finally be nearing an end, with Google rivals coming out on top, and consumers losing out.