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.

There's increasing focus these days in Brussels on "tech sovereignty" and the need to de-couple from the US. Lots of ways of doing this, lots of different approaches, some of which will escalate transatlantic tension more than others. "Buy European" mandates are a poor option.

Heard of EU-INC? Here's what it is: 🚀 A movement to make life easier for European companies to scale 💡 Entrepreneurs should be able to incorporate a business once be recognised everywhere 🇪🇺 28th regime could provide a single portal for founders to set up a business < 48hrs www.eu-inc.org/

EU–INC — One Europe. One Standard. — Pan-European legal entity.

EU–INC is a proposal for a pan-European standardized legal entity to unlock pan-European startup scaling.

eu-inc.org

“Brussels sorely misses a tech-optimistic vision of European success. We need to pierce the policymaking bubble because Europe can’t afford business as usual any longer.” - @kayjebelli.bsky.social Read our announcement and subscribe here >> progresschamber.org/news/chamber...

Chamber of Progress Launches “DG Progress”: New Campaign Covers Latest EU Tech Developments & Digital Policy Analysis - Chamber of Progress

Chamber of Progress announced a new project today focused on Europe’s social, economic, and consumer progress. The “Directorate General for Progress,” DG

progresschamber.org

Really proud of this one. Let's bring some Builder energy to Brussels!

DG Progress@dgprogress.eu · 6mo ago

🚀 🇪🇺 Welcome to DG Progress! 🇪🇺 🚀 The EU doesn’t yet have a DG dedicated to Europe’s economic, social, and consumer progress—so we’re filling in. We will highlight Europe's strengths, advocate for what its innovators need to achieve the next big leaps and share ways to get involved. dgprogress.eu

Good ex-ante news out of the UK today, with the CMA looking to accept commitments from Apple and Google under the DMCCA and their designation as SMS firms for Mobile Ecosystems. This means changes will happen sooner, and without extensive litigation. competitionandmarkets.blog.gov.uk/2026/02/10/...

Improving the way Apple and Google deliver app store services and enhancing iOS interoperability in the UK

How Apple and Google are proposing to address our concerns about their app store processes.

competitionandmarkets.blog.gov.uk