BROADBAND COST REDUCTION DIRECTIVE

The European Commission will hold a workshop to present the results of the study for the review of the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive.

The contractors carrying out the study, WIK-consult, together with ICF and Eco-Act, will present the results of the analysis and answer participants’ questions.

More information can be found here.

Date of the workshop: 27 January 2022 from 9.30h - 12.30h.

 

EU COMPETITION LAW: A CALL FOR EVIDENCE

The European Commission launched a call for evidence which aims to revise the market definition notice to ensure it is accurate and up-to-date. The call for evidence will also set out a clear, consistent and accessible approach to market definition in antitrust and merger cases across sectors.

More information can be found here.

Feedback period: 19 January 2022 - 16 February 2022  (midnight Brussels time).

DIGITAL SERVICES ACT

On 20 January the MEPs gave a green light to the open negotiations with the Member States on the Digital Services Act.

They agreed on draft set of measures to tackle illegal content, to ensure platforms are held accountable for their algorithms, and improve content moderation.

The press release can be found here.

INTERNET OF THINGS: FINAL REPORT

On 20 January the European Commission published the findings of its competition sector inquiry into the consumer Internet of Things (IoT). According to the report, stakeholders raised concerns regarding the following main areas:

• the exclusivity practices limiting the possibility to use different voice assistants on the same smart device.
• the discoverability and visibility of consumer IoT services.
• the access to and the accumulation of large amounts of data which allow the voice assistant providers to improve their market position and to leverage more easily into adjacent markets.
• the lack of interoperability in the consumer IoT sector due to the prevalence of proprietary technology, leading at times to the creation of “de facto standards”.

The press release can be found here.

Next steps: The findings of this sector inquiry will contribute to the ongoing legislative debate on the Commission's proposal for the Digital Markets Act.

NEW DIGITAL GOVERNMENT POLICY: CONCLUSION PAPER

The European Commission published the conclusions of the eGovernment Action Plan Steering Board on a New Digital Government Policy in light of the Digital Decade principles and targets. The  EU ambition in the area of digital government is that by 2030:

• 100% of key public services are available for European citizens and businesses online.
• 100% of European citizens have access to medical records (e-records).
• 80% of citizens will use a digital ID solution.

The report can be downloaded from here.

PROTECTING CONSUMERS FROM MISLEADING REVIEWS

The European Commission published the results of an EU-wide website screening (“sweep”) on online consumer reviews.

Almost two thirds of the online shops, marketplaces, booking websites, search engines and comparison service sites analysed, triggered doubts about the reliability of the reviews: In 144 out of the 223 websites checked, authorities could not confirm that these traders were doing enough to ensure that reviews are authentic, i. e. that they were posted by consumers that actually used the product or service that they reviewed.

The press release can be found here.

Next steps: The national authorities will contact the traders concerned to rectify their websites and, if necessary, initiate enforcement actions according to their national procedures.

EU INSTITUTIONAL LIFE

The Maltese MEP, Roberta Metsola has been elected as the President of the European Parliament.

More information can be found here.