DIGITAL MARKETS ACT

The ITRE Committee published an opinion on the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The proposed amendments are in line with the main principles of the DMA. The rapporteur has taken into account the complementarity of the competitive dimension, where the DMA must be a powerful, clear, pragmatic and easy-to-apply tool with which to achieve a level playing field and constitute a pillar of the second wave of the digitalization of the European society.

The document can be downloaded from here.

Status of the file: Awaiting IMCO's decision.

MERGERS

The European Commission approved the acquisition of joint control of Livit BV by Willemen Groep NV and Telenet BV, all of Belgium. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, because of the limited impact it would have on the market.

More information can be found here.

THE NEXT-GENERATION INTERNET

The European Commission launched a survey as part of the Commission’s effort to gather stakeholders’ suggestions on the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative’s future direction.

The survey can be found here.

Deadline for providing an input: 30 November 2021.

As part of the consultation initiatives, the Commission will organize a workshop on NGI - next steps. The objectives of this workshop will be to discuss the direction the NGI initiative should take based on the experience until now and the current and emerging Internet topics.

More information on the workshop can be found here.

Event date: 18 November 2021.

NEW EUROPEAN ALLIANCE

On 3 November the Portuguese government, in partnership with 26 EU Member States, Iceland, and the European Commission, has launched the European Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA). ESNA will commit to ensure that the signed up countries's startups have the best conditions to grow.

ESNA will support the countries in implementing the 8 underpinning standards: smooth market entry, attracting and retaining talent, stock options, innovation in regulation, innovation procurement, access to finance, social inclusion, digital-first.

More information can be found here.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE MEETINGS

The ITRE Committee will discuss next week the Roaming Regulation and the European data governance act. For both of the files, the MEPs will be reporting back to the Committees on the negotiations.

The draft agenda can be found here.

Meeting date: 9 November 2021.