European Tech policy: plans of the new European Commission and Dutch priorities

On July 18, re-elected Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented her policy priorities for the next five years, largely in line with the electoral programs of the European political groups and recommendations from the Council Conclusions of the member states. Her 2024-2029 work program will be crucial for lobbying on European dossiers.

In this blog series, Public Matters discusses what to expect in the coming five years in four major policy areas: energy & industry, healthcare, technology, and agriculture. This week, our colleague Valérie outlines the expectations for the tech sector.

Recap of the ambitious 9th mandate

The 2019-2024 Commission mandate started off strong with the announcement of the Digital Services Package to regulate online platforms. This resulted in the landmark legislation pieces of the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act. For the first time worldwide, regulation aimed to rein in the power of Big Tech. It didn’t end here: the Commission presented and started enforcing legislation to govern data through the Data Act, promote cyber resilience through NIS2, CER and the CSA, and most recently tackled Artificial Intelligence in the AI Act. By the end of the 9th mandate the EU can look back on an extensive digital rulebook, but remains with the challenge of enforcement.

Council: Implementation and enforcement first

This is echoed in the Council Conclusions of the Telecom Council; the body where Economic and Digital Affairs Ministers from member states convene to discuss new legislation touching their field. These ministers approved and negotiated the hefty package of digital laws, but at the same time call for the next Commission to focus on implementation before considering additional tech legislation. However, there are some areas – ranging from innovation to sustainability – where member states call for more work from the Commission. These include the stricter protection of minors online, efforts to stimulate and control new technologies such as AI and quantum and lastly providing solid digital infrastructure to secure resilient 5G and fibre networks as well as submarine cables. And finally, member states call for increased action on the green and digital transition. This twin transition was set out as the main ambition of the 9th mandate, but member states call on the need for more awareness through transparency requirements and digital sobriety, in line with the principle to reduce, reuse and recycle for both businesses and consumers.

Commission: innovation and economic autonomy

Contrary to 2019, the Commission President did not announce any groundbreaking policy proposals in her speech in July during her election, but rather focused on implementation of existing policy, or elaborations on current files. Von der Leyen for instance stressed the proper enforcement of the Digital Services Act to tackle misinformation, but more importantly, to protect European democracies. However, any political leader will want to propose new legislation. For VDL’s second term we can expect these to be along the buzzwords of competition and strategic autonomy, targeting the European semiconductor industry, quantum computing capacity and cyber security. Perhaps the biggest developments can be expected in the field of AI. The Commission is set to develop together with “member states, industry and civil society an Apply AI Strategy to boost new industrial uses of AI and to improve the delivery of a variety of public services, such as healthcare.” To summarize: Von der Leyen showed that new digital legislation will build on existing rules and that should target innovation and economic autonomy.

MEPs focus on consumer rights

Whereas the Commission and the member states have turned their priorities to advancing innovation for businesses, MEPs also consider the effects of the digital world on consumers. Specifically on two files. Firstly, the evaluation on the consumer legislation online, the Digital Fairness Fitness Check, will announce a big reshuffle in digital consumer legislation. This is set to result in a new Digital Fairness Act, aiming to target dark patterns, contract terms, addictive design of applications and the protection of minors online. The other big file remains artificial intelligence. Despite the approval of the recent Act, the Parliament will use the next mandate to work on regulatory sandboxes, where AI models can stress-test their tools and verify their compliance with the rules of the EC. In addition, MEPs are already concerned with market dominance of some AI providers, so we can expect an extension on the DMA.

And finally, MEPs are looking for more tools and competences to scrutinize the European Commission on the implementation of new legislation. Several MEPs consider the implementation of the DMA, DSA and AI Act too important to give out of hands and will continue pushing the Commission to ensure effective enforcement. In the next mandate, they could therefore lobby for an extension of their competences.

The Dutch position: autonomous infrastructure and privacy rights

The Dutch focus on tech policy resonates with the broader, central ambitions of the European Commission on strategic autonomy and competitiveness. Priorities of the current Committee on Digital Affairs in the Dutch Parliament target autonomous digital networks and infrastructure, in which they aim for national and European providers to grow. With regard to new technologies, the Committee has named quantum and artificial intelligence as focus areas for which they want to develop a solid policy agenda. The Committee is mainly looking at European policy to which they can adapt their plans. Generally the Netherlands agrees with the broad policy lines set out by the Commission, although in recent years the Dutch Parliament has voiced concerns – like Germany, Austria and Poland, that EU legislation has become too privacy intrusive. It can therefore be expected that the Dutch position in the European debate will continue to focus on safeguarding privacy rights.

In conclusion

For organizations lobbying in the EU, the policy priorities of the European Commission and the specific focus areas are of crucial importance. Understanding (the timing of) these priorities and ambitions from the upcoming work program enables them to effectively target their strategies at key decision moments and relevant stakeholders. The coming period will be marked by interactions with policymakers, participation in consultation rounds, and forming coalitions with other stakeholders. Organizations that proactively follow policy developments, tap into and expand their European networks, and strategically collaborate will have an advantage.