Tech Brief: German MPs back potential Schrems III, EU Parliament wants to abolish extra fees for intra-EU calls

German MPs back potential Schrems III, EU Parliament wants to abolish extra fees for intra-EU calls

“Think about the invaluable contribution of the IPCC for climate, this is a global panel that provides the latest science to policymakers. I believe we need a similar body for AI, on the risks and on its benefits for humanity.”

– stated Ursula von der Leyen during her State of the European Union speech (13 September).

Story of the week: German MPs would back a Schrems III initiative. After French lawmaker Philippe Latombe filed a lawsuit at the EU’s top court last week, complaining about the inadequacy of the EU Commission’s proposal for an EU-US data transfer agreement, Austrian data protection activist and co-founder of NOYB Max Schrems, who also brought down the first two attempts of the Commission, will file a third lawsuit at the Austrian court in the autumn. The position of both Latombe and Schrems is backed by German members of the Bundestag as they also criticise the new two-month-old EU-US data transfer deal. Read more.

Don’t miss: EU lawmakers agreed on an ambitious compromise text on telecoms law: including the abolition of extra fees for intra-EU calls. With the aim to bring high connectivity for all Europeans by 2030, the Parliament agreed on an ambitious text pushing towards EU harmonised rules for telecoms, abolition of extra fees for intra-EU calls, and adoption of the principle of administrative tacit approval. “The future development of our society and economy is increasingly dependent on the broad coverage with very high capacity networks. The slower we are in taking measures, the more we lag behind,” the Parliament’s rapporteur on the text, Alin Mituța, told Euractiv. Read more.
Also this week:

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Von der Leyen suggests an “AI IPCC”. During her State of the European Union (SOTEU) speech on Wednesday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen suggested joining forces with global partners around the world in order to create a global approach to Artificial Intelligence technologies. Referencing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) she suggested “a similar body for AI”. After mentioning the work of the European Parliament and of the Council on the AI Act and the work of the Hiroshima Process by the G7, she eventually called for bringing “all of this work together towards minimum global standards for safe and ethical use of AI”.

AI and the wild, wild East. At an event on the acceleration of the speed of AI technologies and their impact on disinformation, Dr. Peter Ptassek, Director for Strategic Communication and Public Diplomacy at the German Federal Foreign Office highlighted the disinformation campaigns of Russia. “If I say the campaigns of Russia and Germany were most unsuccessful, maybe one thing is worrying, which is that some parts of the population are convinced that, after all, NATO started the aggression against Russia, which is unbelievable,” he said. Ptassek’s Danish counterpart Anne Marie Engtoft Meldgaard, Tech Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark, warned against the profound impact of AI and the risks the technology poses for the spread of disinformation: “We have started to see this sow the seeds, maybe not in the high politics, but in local politics. When local politics is immediately affected, it starts transcending into high politics.” She concluded that in order to deal with AI-based disinformation, a multi-stakeholder approach is crucial.

Fundamental rights. A letter of appeal was published on Tuesday by the Brussels Privacy Hub with more than a hundred university professors’ signatures to approve the Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment of the AI Act. The letter calls for clear parameters on fundamental rights, transparency about the results of the impact assessment via public summaries, participation of affected end-users, and involvement of independent public authorities in the impact assessment process.

AI-r traffic control. As reported by the Financial Times, researchers from the UK produced an Artificial Intelligence algorithm modelling air traffic control. The model could facilitate the usage of more fuel-efficient routes, cutting delays, and answering to the shortage of air traffic controllers. The project is set to be run live in 2026, while human supervision will still be needed.

AI and CSAM. According to the British Internet Watch Foundation, sex offenders are discussing on online forums the possibility of creating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) via open-source AI models. On Tuesday, Ian Hogarth, chair of the UK government’s AI taskforce also said that these models are used to create “some of the most heinous things out there”. There is a concern from law enforcement and the child safety experts’ side that this could potentially make it more difficult to identify and then help real-life victims.

Your job might be changing, thanks to AI. According to LinkedIn’s new data, almost half of the European workers (45%) expect to see changes in their jobs next year due to Artificial Intelligence. Of professionals globally, the same amount believes that AI will help to make their jobs easier, while 39% are feeling overwhelmed by the changes caused by AI. Even more (49%) workers are worried that they do not know enough about AI. The key findings also show that 35% of UK execs would like to upskill or hire for AI skills.

French-German interventionism: A bad way to create European ‘champions’ said ex-competition chief economist Pierre Régibeau in an interview on Follow the Money. After four years of serving as the chief economist advising former Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager on competition policies, Régibeau voiced his opinions publicly. He defended the choice of Fiona Scott Morton as his replacement, saying that the appointment became part of a “political game” with the goal of hurting Vestager. He then explained that in his view, government intervention, including subsidies, was not the right way to create European “champions”. Régibeau eventually called for a “return to a full enforcement of state aid rules”, which were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Germany still lags in cybersecurity. Germany is not sufficiently prepared for the rising number of cyber-attacks and lags behind other European countries when it comes to cybersecurity. An international comparison published amid a worrying rise in phishing cases revealed. According to the report, phishing cases increased the most out of all types of cybercrime, rising sixteen-fold globally, since 2021. This huge threat increase is barely being addressed in Germany. The country ranks 18th out of 61 and far behind France and Spain. Read more.

I don’t like your tone. Germany’s largest bank, Deutsche Bank AG, is testing AI tools to detect possible signs of misconduct from the tone of traders’ phone conversations. According to Deutsche Bank’s Head of Technology, Data and Innovation, Bernd Leukert, the bank is examining Google Cloud’s machine learning, but also plans to delve into more possible uses of artificial intelligence. It is unknown how soon the system could be finished and put into use.

France vs. GDPR. Amazon is facing a €170 million fine in France due to violating the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by collecting workers’ data. Collecting data helped to evaluate productivity in warehouses, but the “massive” amount of data was not “necessary or proportionate”, according to a French data protection authority. Meanwhile, French mass media company Group Canal+ is also facing a €750,000 fine for not asking for users’ consent before sending them emails about subscribing to the television service.

US Justice Department vs. Google. On Tuesday, an antitrust case kicked off in the United States opposing the Justice Department and Google over alleged antitrust violations. The lawsuit concerns Google search business, which the Justice Department considers “anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful means” to keep its monopoly on the digital advertising market. Google argues in return that it has been maintaining its dominance by offering consumers a product superior to its competitors.

The German copy. This week the Internet Governance Forum hosted a German version of its forum on the federal level called IGF-D. One of the guests was the Greens member of the Bundestag, Tobias B. Bacherle. He highlighted the importance of safeguarding digital citizens’ rights and the need to “ensure that every person has control and self-determination over their own data”. Bacherle also criticised many states for not upholding these principles and prioritising their national interests. “Examples such as the internet shutdowns in Iran, but also the debate about the threatening softening of secure encryption in the context of the European CSA Regulation, show: We must continue to stand up for a democratic internet,” he added.

Experts split on the creation of industry-specific rules on illegal online content. EU lawmakers are divided on whether industry-specific legal provisions on illegal online content should be voted on amid a dispute on whether they could contradict the bloc’s flagship Digital Services Act. Read more.

“Historic achievement”. Alongside AI, von der Leyen also addressed the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) during her SOTEU speech, saying that all three are “creating a safer digital space where fundamental rights are protected”; “ensuring fairness with clear responsibilities for big tech”; and a “historic achievement”. If you missed this year’s SOTEU, you can catch up by reading Euractiv’s live blog of the speech.

e-Payment? No, thanks. A study conducted by the consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) revealed that Germans are hesitant to adapt to electronic payments. They trust more in payments made in cash. When it comes to e-payment, Germans are in the lower midfield in Europe ranking 12th out of 17 European countries, the BCG-analysis showed. The champions of e-payment are Norway followed by Denmark.

Tiptoeing around. After a long summer break, platform work directive technical negotiators appear to have made some meagre advances, ahead of a trilogue meeting next Monday – originally planned for 5 September. Documents circulated between Parliament and Commission officials, and seen by Euractiv, show a tentative draft agreement on issues pertaining to workers’ protection of data when processed by algorithms – but nothing on the controversial presumption of employment. Member states, whose technical negotiators were meeting on Thursday, warned that part of the Parliament’s text would clash with national competences, though middle grounds on algorithmic management could be found, according to a source.

Farmers going digital. The European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a venture debt loan of €15 million to back CrowdFarming, a marketplace for European Farmers. Based in Spain, the platform company sells products from 300 selected farmers directly to end-consumers, across 13 EU countries. The EIB support should create about 200 jobs by 2026, and support the green transition of farmers.

Breton is in favour of USB-C chargers. As also reported last week, the new iPhone 15 will replace Apple’s previous lightning port with a USB-C port, following an EU law introduced in September 2021 obliging phone manufacturers to adopt a common charging connection by December 2024 in hopes that this would cut waste and save users’ money. Over the weekend, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton wrote about the matter on LinkedIn, saying that “a common charger is a common sense for the many electronic devices in our daily lives”. He also confirmed that “as of 2024 all-new handheld mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, handheld videogame consoles, headphones, headsets, portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems, and earbuds will have to be equipped with a USB-C charging port,” adding that for laptops, the deadline is 2026. Breton believes that the regulation “will bring around €250 million of savings to consumers annually”.

Strategic autonomy. The Critical Raw Materials Act was adopted on Thursday by the Industry Committee of the European Parliament. It was then confirmed during the vote in a plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday by a large majority with 515 votes in favour and 34 against. The Act aims to secure the provision of raw material supply, essential to smartphones, electric cars, or solar panels, along with provisions for circularity and recycling goals of these materials.

Brazil, let’s do digital. The third annual meeting of the German-Brazilian Digital Dialogue was held by the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) and the German Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport (BMDV) in the Brazilian capital, Brasília. “The German-Brazilian relations are excellent. Therefore, back in 2019, we decided that we would expand cooperation in the field of digitalisation,” Stefan Schnorr, German State Secretary of BMDV, remarked in his opening speech. Since no other country outside the EU is home to so many native German speakers – around 4.5 million people – , Brazil plays a role for numerous German companies in the internet and e-service infrastructure.

Child sexual abuse: New compromise text puts focus on EU Centre. A new EU Council presidency compromise text about the regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse material online (CSAM), seen by Euractiv, focuses on the role of a planned new expert hub called the EU Centre. Read more.

CSAM goes to COREPER. Euractiv learned this week that next Wednesday the CSAM legislation will go to COREPER II level, following a meeting of the Law Enforcement Working Party (LEWP) on Thursday. As Euractiv also learned, LEWP discussed the entire proposal during Thursday’s very long meeting.

We support you. A letter in support of the draft law to prevent and combat CSAM, signed by 169 people from leading organisations in over 30 countries including almost every EU member state, was sent to MEPs and representatives of the European Council. If the regulation does not complete its passage by 3 August 2024, the date until the interim regulation is in effect, the organisations expect that the “continued use of child protection tools to detect child sexual abuse online in communication services will be banned across the EU”.

It’s getting worse. The UK’s Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) published a report about where child sexual abuse imagery is being hosted in the EU. The new data shows that CSAM being hosted in the EU has increased by 26% this year compared to the same period last year. The IWF urges EU lawmakers to “get a grip” on the situation, and support the CSAM legislation to prevent the material from spreading further.

Don’t go breaking my encryption. On Thursday, privacy service Proton published a blog post highlighting the UK government’s acknowledgement that enforcing the Online Safety Bill may not be possible without breaking end-to-end encryption – which Euractiv also reported last week. Now, Proton would like to see the European Commission follow suit.

Monkey business. Based on changes in the Online Safety Bill, animal cruelty videos will be considered a “priority offence,” similar to child sexual abuse material, threats to kill, or revenge porn. The changes come after a year-long BBC Eye investigation uncovered a global monkey torture ring. However, the detection of such material may cause disagreements when it comes to potentially breaking encryption, just like in the case of CSAM. The Bill is expected to come into effect in the autumn after which social media platforms will have to abide by its rules or face fines of up to 10% of their global annual revenue.

Will the EU’s Pegasus amendment fly? Ahead of the European Parliament vote on 3 October in the plenary session on the European Media Freedom Act, Members of the European Parliament, the European Digital Rights Association, and the European Federation of Journalists advertised an open letter to ask for the containment of several loopholes in the text that they deem are exploitable by governments to allow usage of spyware on journalists, alike Pegasus. They opened the letter for co-signature.

iPhone 12 radiations. On Tuesday, the French national watchdog for radio equipment (ANFR) demanded the immediate suspension of sales of Apple’s iPhone 12 on the French market. The ANFR deemed that the iPhone 12 exceeded its limit of the radio frequency absorption rate, measuring at 5.74 watts per kilogram, exceeding the limit by 1.74 points. Digital Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated he would support the ANFR, should the agency decide that Apple should recall all its iPhone 12 from the French market, though he explained that the measured electromagnetic radiations were not dangerous for the health.

Plus or minus €200 billion? On Tuesday, CCIA Europe, the not-for-profit tech organisation representing internet players such as Amazon, Meta, Google, X, and Cloudflare published a blog post “debunk[ing] telco claims about so-called ‘investment gap’ that would justify their ‘fair share’ demands”. According to CCIA Europe’s experts, the telecom sector would face an investment surplus of at least €200 billion by 2030 to achieve the EU Digital Decade Targets. In July, the European Commission published a study conducted by WIK-Consult which advertised an “overall investment gap reach[ing] at least €174 billion […] but more likely beyond €200 billion”. So who is right? +€200 billion or -€200 billion?

US-EU data transfer agreement La-tombstone. Centrist French Member of Parliament Philippe Latombe filed two lawsuits in front of the Tribunal of the Court of Justice of the EU the financial newspaper La Tribune revealed on Monday. He explained to Euractiv that his first request was filed to the Tribunal, asking for an annulment of the Data Privacy Framework, the EU-US data transfer agreement. As this lawsuit might take months for a formal decision to be taken, he decided to also file in front of the Tribunal a second request, asking for an immediate suspension of the agreement. Latombe believes that this new EU-US data transfer agreement infringes the General Data Protection Regulation and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Blowing hot on China… Ursula von der Leyen said during her SOTEU speech that the global market is being “flooded with cheaper Chinese electronic cars”, meaning that the price is being “kept artificially low by huge state subsidies” and distorting the EU market, counter to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. Therefore, an EU anti-subsidy investigation into electric vehicles coming from China will be launched.

… and blowing cold on China. European Commission Vice President Věra Jourová is going to visit China next Monday to discuss topics related to technology, including AI. The news of the visit follows the announcement of the Commission’s investigation into subsidies for Chinese electric cars.

The Real Stakes of the Google Antitrust Trial (The New Yorker)

China Flags ‘Security Incidents’ With iPhones as Bans Expand (Bloomberg)

Google has a new tool to outsmart authoritarian internet censorship (MIT Technology Review)

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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