PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE DRAFT RSPG WORK PROGRAMME FOR 2022 AND BEYOND

On 25 November the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) launched a public consultation on the Draft Work Programme for 2022 and beyond.  RSPG has identified several work items to be developed in the coming years: the Digital Decade 2030, the development of 6G, the strategy on the future use of the frequency band 470-694 MHz beyond 2030 in the EU, etc.

Period of consultation: From 25 November 2021 to 6 January 2022.

In accordance with the provisions of the EECC there could be further requests for an RSPG Opinion from the Commission, the Council or the European Parliament. In addition, in accordance with the RSPG Decision and the RSPG Rules of Procedure, the Commission will consider, after consultation of the RSPG members, the setting up of Sub Groups for the period 2022-2023 in light of the work programme adopted by the RSPG .

More information can be found here.

Next steps: The final Work Programme for 2022 and beyond is expected to be adopted at the RSPG Plenary meeting on 9th February after the results of the public consultation.

 

PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE DIGITAL PRINCIPLES: CONSULTATION RESULTS

On 23 November the European Commission published the consultation results from the public consultation on the digital principles which ran between 12 May and 6 September 2021. The stakeholders provided their views on formulating 9 areas of digital principles:

• Universal access to internet services.
• Universal digital education and skills for people to take an active part in society and in democratic processes.
• Accessible and human-centric digital public services and administration.
• Access to digital health services.
• An open, secure and trusted online environment.
• Protecting and empowering children and young people in the online space.
• A European digital identity.
• Access to digital devices, systems and services that respect the climate and environment.
• Ethical principles for human-centric algorithms.

A large number of respondents indicated that there are other relevant digital principles such as the need to have principles that would set out the possibility of alternatives/choice in a digital society and more transparency on the use of personal data by companies.

More information can be found here.

Next steps:  By the end of 2021 - the Commission will propose a joint inter-institutional solemn declaration on digital rights and principle.

 

EUROPEAN COMMISSION INVESTIGATION OF REMEDIES FOR ACCESS TO CIVIL ENGINEERING IN IRELAND

On 22 November the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation into the Irish Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg)’s proposal concerning the prices for access to Eircom’s civil engineering that was notified on 22 October 2021.

In the notified draft measure, ComReg proposes to set new prices for the access to the civil engineering network of the historic operator Eircom. The main changes concern the prices charged to National Broadband Ireland (NBI) - the operator that benefits from State-aid scheme to roll-out a fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network in the most rural parts of Ireland.

The Commission has serious doubts as to the compatibility of this proposal with EU law. The Commission considers that ComReg’s measure establishes an unjustified discrimination between NBI and other access seekers, by granting NBI very favourable conditions of access to Eircom’s civil engineering.

More information can be found here

Next steps: The Commission will invite third parties to submit their observations following the publication of the Commission’s serious doubts.

 

DIGITAL SERVICES ACT AND DIGITAL MARKETS ACT

Digital Services Act

The Council of the EU agreed on its general approach on the proposal in the Digital Services Act (DSA). The Council made changes to the Commission's proposal regarding the clarification of the scope of the DSA and explicitly included the online search engines. The Council also extended the obligations to notify the suspicion of serious criminal offences to all hosting services.

The press release can be found here.

Next steps: The general approach reached with a mandate for further discussions with the European Parliament, which are scheduled for 2022.

Digital Markets Act

On 23 November the IMCO Committee adopted the compromise amendments on the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The draft law blacklists certain practices of large platforms and enables the Commission to carry out market investigations and sanction non-compliant behaviours.

The press release can be found here.

The Council agreed its general approach on the proposal for a DMA. The main changes to the Commission's proposal concern the improvement of the criteria for the designation of gatekeepers, including an annex that defines ‘active end users’ and ‘active business users’. The Council also proposes a new obligation that enhances the right of end users to unsubscribe from core platform services.

The press release can be found here

Next steps: December 2021 - The DMA file is due to be voted on in plenary.

 

BEREC

On 24 November, during the 5G Territory event, the BEREC Chair, Michel Van Bellinghen (BIPT, Belgium) commented on BEREC's plans in the coming year regarding 5G saying that BEREC "will keep focusing on the 5G value chain and issues related to 5G roll-out such as coverage indicators, infrastructure sharing but also backhaul and copper switch-off".

More information can be found here.

 

E-EVIDENCE

On 25 November the European Commission adopted two proposals to authorise the EU Member States to sign and to ratify the Second Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. This Protocol will improve access to electronic evidence necessary for criminal investigations and strengthen law enforcement and judicial authorities' capacity to fight against cybercrime.

The documents can be found here

Next steps: The Council of Europe is expected to organise a signature ceremony for the Protocol in spring 2022.

 

DIGITAL SKILLS GAP

The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity published a report on addressing the EU Cybersecurity Skills shortage and gap trough higher education. The report takes a look at data gathered by the Cybersecurity Higher Education Database - the largest resource of its nature and is able to provide a reliable and up-to-date snapshot of cybersecurity academic programmes available across Europe.

More information can be found here.

 

EUROPEAN DEMOCRACY: COMMISSION'S NEW LAWS

On 25 November the European Commission presented a proposal on transparency and targeting of political advertising, as part of measures aimed at protecting election integrity and open democratic debate.

The main measures set out in the proposed Regulation on transparency and targeting of political adverts include transparency labels for paid political advertising, strict conditions for targeting and effective fines for breaches.

The Commission has also proposed to revise the EU rules on funding of European political parties and foundations.

The press release can be found here.

Next steps: The proposals will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council.