Internet Policy in the EU

Latest news and information on the Internet policies of the European Union.

Brussels opens 'Digital Europe' funding to Turkey — 01 September 2023, 21:53 CET

The EU Commission signed an association agreement with Turkey for the Digital Europe Programme Friday, allowing Turkish organisations to take part in projects that deploy digital technologies.

Brussels opens antitrust probe into Microsoft Teams and Office bundling — 29 July 2023, 00:20 CET

The Commission opened a formal investigation Thursday into whether Microsoft breached EU competition rules by bundling its Teams collaboration product to business suites Office 365 and Microsoft 365.

EU aims to lead on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds — 11 July 2023, 23:45 CET

The EU Commission adopted a new strategy on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds Tuesday, to steer the next technological transition and ensure an open, secure, and inclusive digital environment.

MEPs give green light to legislation to boost EU chips industry — 11 July 2023, 23:36 CET

The European Parliament gave the green light Tuesday to plans to secure the EU’s supply of chips by boosting production and innovation, and establishing emergency measures against shortages.

EU initiative on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds - guide — 11 July 2023, 23:27 CET

The European Commission adopted on 11 July a new strategy on Web 4.0 and virtual worlds to steer the next technological transition and ensure an open, secure, trustworthy, fair and inclusive digital environment for EU citizens, businesses and public administrations.

EU-US Data Privacy Framework - guide — 10 July 2023, 23:33 CET

On 11 July, the European Commission adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. The adequacy decision concludes that the United States ensures an adequate level of protection - compared to that of the EU - for personal data transferred from the EU to US companies participating in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. The adequacy decision follows the US' signature of an Executive Order on ‘Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities', which introduced new binding safeguards to address the points raised by Court of Justice of the European Union in its Schrems II decision of July 2020. Notably, the new obligations were geared to ensure that data can be accessed by US intelligence agencies only to the extent of what is necessary and proportionate, and to establish an independent and impartial redress mechanism to handle and resolve complaints from Europeans concerning the collection of their data for national security purposes.

EU confirms adequacy of US data protection framework — 10 July 2023, 23:41 CET

The United States ensures an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the European Union to US companies under the new framework, the EU concluded on Monday.

Brussels proposes more vigorous enforcement of GDPR — 04 July 2023, 22:17 CET

The EU Commission proposed new rules Tuesday to strengthen enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation in cross-border cases and improve cooperation between data protection authorities.

GDPR Procedural Regulation: stronger enforcement of the GDPR in cross-border cases - guide — 04 July 2023, 22:05 CET

The European Commission proposed on 4 July new rules to support the effectiveness and efficiency of enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in cross-border cases. The GDPR Procedural Regulation aims to streamline cooperation between data protection authorities (DPAs), by harmonising some aspects of their administrative procedures in cross-border cases.

Boost for cybersecurity in the EU institutions — 26 June 2023, 23:47 CET

The EU Parliament and Council reached political agreement Monday on a regulation aimed at ensuring a high common level of cybersecurity across the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies.

MEPs seek to curb use of spyware — 19 June 2023, 17:36 CET

Following a year-long investigation into the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware, the European Parliament outlined Thursday reforms deems necessary to curb spyware abuse.

Google in EU dock over abusive online ads practices — 15 June 2023, 23:25 CET

The EU Commission informed Google Wednesday of its preliminary view that the company breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the advertising technology industry (‘adtech').

MEPs ready to negotiate first-ever rules for safe and transparent AI — 14 June 2023, 18:42 CET

The EU Parliament adopted its negotiating position on the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act Wednesday, vowing to ensure human oversight of AI-related processes while making full use of AI's the potential.

EU clears Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard — 15 May 2023, 22:16 CET

The EU Commission approved Monday, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, subject to full compliance of commitments offered by Microsoft.

Commission opens new EUR 122m calls for Digital Europe funding — 15 May 2023, 22:16 CET

The European Commission opened the first set of calls for proposals Thursday under a 2023-2024 programme to strengthen digital technologies and competences across the EU.

EU cracks down on online disinformation and illegal content — 25 April 2023, 23:19 CET

The Google and Bing search engines and another 17 online platforms will have to conform to a set of new obligations under the Digital Services Act, the EU Commission announced Tuesday.

Go-ahead for revamped EU product safety rules — 30 March 2023, 23:06 CET

The EU Parliament endorsed revised rules on product safety of non-food consumer products Thursday, aligning existing rules with latest developments in digitalisation and the surge in online shopping.

Euro-Parliament ready to negotiate for EU-wide digital wallet — 16 March 2023, 22:30 CET

The European Parliament confirmed Thursday its negotiating mandate on a new digital identity framework which would provide EU citizens with digital access to key public services across EU borders.

MEPs back new rules for fair access to and use of industrial data — 14 March 2023, 18:27 CET

The EU Parliament gave its approval Tuesday to the Data Act, which clarifies who can access data and on what terms, and empowers a wider range of private and public entities to share data.

Schengen info systems upgrade now in force — 07 March 2023, 22:18 CET

A strengthened Schengen Information System (SIS) entered into operation Tuesday, with more complete and reliable information to enhance security and border management in Europe.

WhatsApp promises EU to change practices — 06 March 2023, 22:16 CET

Following dialogue with consumer protection authorities and the EU Commission, the US WhatsApp messenger service committed Monday to being more transparent on changes to its terms of service.

Council agrees position on short-term rentals data — 06 March 2023, 22:25 CET

EU competitiveness ministers agreed Thursday a negotiating mandate for a regulation on data collection and sharing for short-term accommodation rental services.

Commission suspends TikTok on its corporate devices — 23 February 2023, 22:34 CET

The EU executive decided Thursday to suspend use of the TikTok application on Commission corporate devices Thursday and on personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile device service.

Gigabit infrastructure to transform EU connectivity — 23 February 2023, 22:38 CET

The EU Commission presented a set of actions Thursday to make Gigabit connectivity available to all across the EU by 2030, with a view to enabling "transformation of the connectivity sector" in the EU.

New EU Gigabit infrastructure to transform Europe's connectivity sector - guide — 23 February 2023, 18:38 CET

The European Commission presented on 23 February a set of actions aimed to make Gigabit connectivity available to all citizens and businesses across the EU by 2030, in line with the objectives of Europe's Digital Decade, and to enable the transformation of the connectivity sector in the EU.