Tech and the new mandate, Europe’s AI opportunities and challenges

The previous European Parliament mandate introduced a raft of tech regulations aimed at reigning in Big Tech, including the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, the Data Act and the highly anticipated AI Act – the first legal framework on artificial intelligence to address the risks associated with AI and position Europe to play a leading role globally.

The AI Act takes a risk-based approach to artificial intelligence to protect citizens from dangers such as intrusive surveillance while at the same time promoting innovations that could help solve global challenges such as climate change. The Act also establishes a new European AI Office, which will centralise AI expertise across the EU and play a key role in implementation.

It seems as though the European Union has done its work, and it’s game over, right? Wrong. Although a lot of regulation was introduced under the last mandate, and a shift to the right following the European Parliament elections may result in fewer regulatory initiatives in tech, there is still a lot of implementation to do.

Proper implementation needed

This was recently underlined by MEP Brando Benifei, co-rapporteur for the AI Act and charged with getting it through the European Parliament. At an AI4Trust event organised by Euractiv on 25 September, Benifei said that it was up to the next Commission mandate, together with the Parliament, to properly implement all the regulations.

“It is also important to support the regulations with other initiatives, on the investment side, on common research, on strengthening capital markets to sustain tech developments and permanent training. All this is part of the implementation effort.”

“The AI office is installed, and in October, the Parliament is going to formally establish a permanent monitoring group on AI implementation that will cooperate and scrutinise the Commission and member states in their work of implementation,” he explained.

It’s for this reason that the new legislative agenda for 2024 to 2029 has been dubbed the “implementation mandate.”

However, speaking at the same event, Alexandre de Streel, Academic Director at the think-tank CERRE and professor at the University of Namur, College of Europe and SciencesPo Paris, said he would like to see an “innovation mandate.”

“For me, the next Commission mandate should be the Innovation Commission. We need to create a thriving, vibrant, and competitive data and innovation economy. To do that, we think that the net neutrality rule may need to be revisited, as a too strict interpretation of net neutrality might hamper some connectivity innovation. We also need a more ambitious strategy with data,” said de Streel.

De Streel called for a revision of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to, in essence, “re-calibrate the GDPR to help small firms.”

Create a Digital Fairness Act

Maryant Fernández Pérez, Head of Digital Policy at BEUC, the consumer rights organisation, disagreed. “We should not reinvent the wheel even though there is a tendency to do this with a new mandate,” she said.

“The key for BEUC is that we need fair, competitive digital markets. We shouldn’t assume what’s good for businesses is necessarily good for people, and the balance must be right. Enforcement should happen fast, not after years. Almost all – around 97% – of popular websites and apps use dark patterns. It is not fair and is blatantly ignoring rules that we have. These manipulate consumers to make decisions that might not be in their interest, and it’s time to put an end to them for good,” continued Fernández Pérez.

She called for the next Commission to create a Digital Fairness Act that would effectively ban dark patterns everywhere in the online world.  This should include influencer rules and protection of minors.

“Some businesses are really not taking our rules seriously. We need more competition, not less competition. So, I am cautious about calls for more consolidation in some areas, for example, telecoms. We need more competition, not a deregulation agenda,” she concluded.

Stephen Crisp, Senior Policy Director, Data Economy & Sustainability at DIGITALEUROPE, agreed that competitiveness is indeed key, even if not totally aligned with BEUC on the other points.

“If you lead in technology, you lead in everything – you lead in cultural and political spheres as well. And Europe is in a position now where it has to decide it wants to be a leader or accept that it is a follower. Having read the Draghi Report on Competitiveness, it is clear that EU economic growth has been slower than the US for the last 20 years. We can see that lack of productivity comes from not leading on or integrating technology.

Europe doesn’t lack innovation

“Europe doesn’t lack innovation, but companies are hampered by a number of factors, some regulation, a poorly functioning single market and consistent stable sources of funding. Not just tech, adjacent sectors – pharmaceutical, auto and defence. The problem with innovation is you know who the victims are going to be, but you can’t see who will benefit. A capital markets union is essential to allow scale-ups,” said Crisp. He added that public procurement is another area where European-made technology could be supported and added that “maybe controversially” we could create a skills passport.

The final speaker, Tea Mustac, Legal Expert & Privacy Professional at Spirit Legal, brought together many of the previous points: “AI shouldn’t be just another regulatory headache or a checkbox on the compliance to-do list, and neither should technology or processing data, it should be one of Europe’s most valuable assets.”

Ethical and trustworthy technology

Mustac highlighted five areas that she believes are essential to deliver this. Firstly, AI and digital literacy: “They are not just ‘nice to have,’ or even legal obligations, they are the foundation of ethical and trustworthy technology,” she said. “Second, we need a competent AI workforce: if Europe doesn’t want to fall off the wagon, then we need to develop, keep talent at home and prevent brain drain.”

She also highlighted the need to balance the need for high-quality data with applicable regulations for achieving legal certainty, empowering startups and SMEs, and harmonisation of enforcement through standardisation and harmonised testing procedures.

So, the next European Commission mandate has its work cut out even if it is not pushing through lots of new regulations, there is still a long to-do list to ensure the sort of fair yet innovative digital environment that can robustly deal with challenges such as disinformation while creating an ecosystem where European businesses can thrive and become competitive on a global scale. The only remaining question is not if but when.

This article follows the policy debate “Tech and the new mandate – What are the opportunities and challenges?“ supported by AI4TRUST.

[Edited By Brian Maguire | Euractiv’s Advocacy Lab ]