european commission
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Two steps forward and two steps back on net neutrality
The last few weeks have generated a lot of noise but little progress on net neutrality. A few weeks ago, the European Parliament had a strong position on the subject, having adopted its first reading of the Telecoms Single Market Regulation in April, while the Council, despite the best efforts of the Italian presidency-in-office had […]
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Draft Commission Work Programme 2015: huge challenges for digital rights
EDRi has obtained a copy of the draft Commission Work Programme 2015. For those who have followed the nomination hearings of the Commissioners, this draft programme does not contain any major surprises. However, it does show the huge number of proposals and initiatives that will have a direct impact on our fundamental rights and freedoms […]
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Summary of the Commissioners-designate hearings
Between 29 September and 7 October the hearings of the Commissioners-designate in the European Parliament took place. This is a brief summary of the six hearings when the Commissioners-designate were answering to the MEPs’ questions regarding digital rights, privacy issues and trade agreements. Guenther Oettinger (Germany) is the nominee for the Digital Economy and Society […]
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Despite compromising document, Malmström is here to stay
On 29 September the public hearing on Cecilia Malmström, the EU Commissioner-designate for Trade took place. The day before, Der Spiegel published an article revealing an email exchange indicating that Malmström and/or her cabinet had been covertly working with the US at an early stage in the development of the European Commission’s General Proposal for […]
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Risk-based approach to data protection: risky for fundamental rights
On 18 September an EU Council document related to the draft EU data protection regulation was published. The document summarises the positions of Member States that have given their views on a so-called “risk-based approach to data protection”, within the context of the (so far) 30-month negotiations on a review of European data protection legislation. […]
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ENDitorial: ISDS Consultation – redefining “omnishambles”
Earlier this year, the European Commission was faced with a problem. The inclusion of dangerous, anti-democratic “investor-state dispute resolution” (ISDS) in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the planned EU/US trade agreement, was threatening to become a major political problem. There was a particular danger for the Commission that this would become an issue […]
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Summary report of the responses to the copyright public consultation
On 23 July 2014 the European Commission Directorate General Internal Market and Services (DG MARKT) published Summary Report of the Responses to the public consultation on the review of the EU copyright rules. The consultation held between 5 December 2013 and 5 March 2014 was part of the European Commission’s effort to review and modernise […]
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Freedom of information: EU Commission creates barriers for access to documents requests
It is crucial to know what the European institutions are up to in order to ensure that citizens’ fundamental rights are respected. Democracy requires vigilance and vigilance requires access to information. It is precisely for this reason that freedom of information legislation exists. Since the entry in force of Regulation 1049/2001 setting up the EU […]
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Interplay between data protection, competition law & consumer rights
On 2 June 2014, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) hosted an event in the European Parliament to discuss its preliminary opinion entitled “Privacy and competitiveness in the age of big data: The interplay between data protection, competition law and consumer protection in the Digital Economy”. This opinion and event is an attempt by EDPS […]
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EC’s Scoreboard 2014: Broadband access improved, challenges remain
On 28 May 2014, the European Commission (EC) launched the “Digital Agenda Scoreboard 2014”, a report on the progress and trends of the EU Digital Agenda based on data from 2013. The report uses thirteen indicators to assess both the European Union and the Member states by means of comparing their performance with the goals […]
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Legal analysis of the Data Retention ruling of the European Court
The legal service of the Council of the European Union has produced an analysis of the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the data retention Directive. While these documents are normally confidential, this text has been leaked and provides interesting insights into the ruling – making one wonder what justification […]
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EC adopts Guidelines on Freedom of Expression Online and Offline
The Council of the European Union adopted, to very little fanfare, an extensive document on freedom of expression on 12 May. The document seeks to identify and clarify a range of principles with regard to freedom of communication. In doing so, the Foreign Affairs Council has adopted a text of unusual clarity and scope which […]
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