Tech

Consolidate communications, or inertia will mean decline, says Letta
Est. 9minThe much-anticipated Letta Report on the Single Market contained many strong recommendations. Jennifer Baker spoke with Enrico Letta to discuss what he hopes for in practice, with a deep dive into telecommunications.

How European countries are implementing new cybersecurity framework
Est. 5minEU countries are implementing the updated Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2), in force since January, with varying degrees of progress. To provide an overview of the state of play, Euractiv interviewed Nicolas Sonder and Mailin von Knobelsdorff, PwC experts on cybersecurity.

How extended and virtual reality can improve medicine and surgeries
Est. 5minExtended reality has the potential to revolutionise the visualisation and planning of surgeries, medical experts already working with such tools told Euractiv in an interview.

EU AI Act ‘cannot turn away from foundation models’, Spain’s state secretary says
Est. 5minWith Europe’s AI rulebook at a delicate stage of negotiations, Carme Artigas, the Spanish Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, spoke to Euractiv about the state of play of the inter-institutional discussions. The AI Act is a legislative proposal …

Small companies are Europe’s ‘hidden champions’, digital SME alliance chief says
Est. 5minSmaller technology companies are Europe’s “hidden champions” that need to be connected to develop alternative solutions to the big tech companies, Secretary General of the European DIGITAL SME Alliance Sebastiano Toffaletti told Euractiv. For Toffaletti, there is a misconception that everything …

Europe lacks courage in pursuing digital sovereignty, cloud service CEO says
Est. 5minEU policymakers should have the "courage and fair-mindedness" to pursue a sovereign cloud and regulate American cloud providers under the EU antitrust law on digital markets, Michel Paulin, CEO of the leading French provider OVHcloud, told Euractiv in an interview.

Italy’s digital state secretary defines senders-pay initiative ‘premature’
Est. 5minRome's support for the initiative to make tech companies contribute to digital infrastructure can no longer be taken for granted, as the Italian state secretary for digital transition called any proposal on this matter 'premature' in an interview with EURACTIV.

AI the next big challenge for the digital skills gap, EU’s Schmit says
Est. 4minArtificial Intelligence and related fields like cybersecurity will further fuel the growing need for highly qualified talents and basic digital skills in the European Union, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, told EURACTIV in an interview.

Poland slams child sexual abuse material regulation as unnecessary
Est. 4minThe regulation to fight child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online is unnecessary as there are other regulations for safety on the internet, Paweł Lewandowski, Polish undersecretary of state at the chancellery of the prime minister, told EURACTIV.

New study points to economic, geopolitical gaps in EU data strategy
Est. 5minEconomic preparedness and the geopolitical dimension of data are potential pitfalls of the EU data strategy, an economic expert told EURACTIV ahead of the publication of a new study next week. “The paper underlines how Europe is lagging behind the US …

There is no investment gap in Belgian market, telecom regulator says
Est. 4minThe head of the Belgian telecom authority, Michel Van Bellinghen, told EURACTIV he sees no need for the senders-pay initiative and criticised the Commission for trying to recalibrate Europe's telecom regime in favour of deregulation.

EDF reactor boss urges Brussels to make ‘clear commitment’ to nuclear
Est. 4minThe European Commission should make a "clear commitment" to nuclear, the president of French energy giant EDF's small nuclear reactor project, Renaud Crassous, told EURACTIV France in an interview, describing the EU's Net-Zero Industry Act proposal as a failure.

Child sexual abuse: leading MEP sceptical of technical limitations
Est. 5minAs the European Parliament's published its draft report on the proposal to fight child sexual abuse material (CSAM), the rapporteur shared with EURACTIV his vision about the key aspects of the file. Javier Zarzalejos is an influential voice inside European People's …

EU must go further to protect journalists from abusive litigation, expert says
Est. 5minThe Council's latest draft of the EU anti-SLAPP directive is significantly watered down and does not go far enough to protect journalists from lawsuits designed to harass and intimidate them, director of Article 19 Europe Sarah Clarke told EURACTIV in an interview.

‘Uber hasn’t changed,’ whistleblower says
Est. 6minUber went all in to break the French taxi sector, all the while dodging taxes and keeping drivers in high levels of precarity, Mark MacGann, the Uber Files whistleblower, told EURACTIV France in an exclusive interview.

No Green Deal without technology, leading EU lawmaker says
Est. 4minFor EU lawmaker Eva Maydell, Europe's ambitious green agenda must be supported by a comprehensive industrial plan that shifts the bloc's focus to competitive sustainability and becoming the world's leader in clean technologies.

MEP: More data on short-term rental needed, as EU legislation is no panacea
Est. 5minThe EU Commission's recent proposal on short-term rentals (STRs), which hones in on transparency measures and streamlines registration processes, is a step in the right direction as comprehensive data is essential to better regulate the sector, Cláudia Monteiro de Aguiar MEP told EURACTIV.

Inside a German state’s bid to become the European hub for chipmaking
Est. 5minAvailable lands, renewable energy and political stability are all part of the German recipe to attract chip production on its territory, together with the deep pockets to heavily subsidise these costly investments, a German state minister told EURACTIV.

EU Commissioner: Council should revert to platform workers’ directive original text
Est. 5minMinisters failed to reach a deal last week over the platform workers’ directive, as concerns over the triggering of the legal presumption of employment and its derogations remain, Commissioner Nicolas Schmit told EURACTIV in an interview.

Active public support must underpin EU smart villages strategy, says MEP
Est. 4minPublic policy must be at the core of the project to develop smart villages in the EU, MEP Franc Bogovič has said, as an initiative on the EU’s long-term rural prospects moves forwards.

Dark patterns, online ads will be potential targets for the next Commission, Reynders says
Est. 5minTransparency in the online advertising market, dark patterns and ‘cookie fatigue’ are all topics on which the European Commission might regulate in the next mandate, the EU's consumer protection chief told EURACTIV. European Commissioner for justice and consumer protection, Didier Reynders, …

Balanced deal on platform workers rules reached, leading MEP says
Est. 6minThe European Parliament reached a deal on the platform workers’ directive, pending confirmation by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee on 12 December.

The pitfalls of the EU’s media freedom law, as reviewed by an expert
Est. 5minEconomic sustainability, lack of ‘teeth’ and underdevelopment of the geopolitical implications are the most significant points for improvement highlighted in a recent study on the European Media Freedom Act.

Expanded education central to digital wellbeing, says practitioner
Est. 5minDigital education must be broader than hard digital skills and break free of the online-offline divide, those working in digital wellbeing have said.