Strasbourg, France — The European Parliament today voted to confirm Ursula von der Leyen as the next President of the European Commission. President von der Leyen previously served in the German government in several ministerial roles, including as Minister of Defence. She will be the first woman to lead the EU’s executive arm. Earlier today…
Brussels, BELGIUM — France’s Senate today approved a national tax, which will require major tech companies to pay a 3% tax on their turnover in France applied retroactively from the start of the year. The justification for the tax is that so-called digital companies pay less tax than traditional firms, a claim that several studies…
Washington — US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has announced an investigation into France’s proposed digital services tax, which is widely understood as targeting U.S. technology companies for unique taxation. The French measure cleared the lower house of Parliament last week. A vote in the French senate is expected as early as Thursday. The French tax…
Brussels, BELGIUM — The Computer & Communications Industry Association welcomes Guardtime, it’s newest member in Europe. Guardtime is a technology company founded in Estonia and headquartered in Switzerland that has developed the KSI Blockchain technology stack. CCIA is an international nonprofit tech trade association that advocates for innovation and competitive conditions for the tech industry.…
Helsinki, Finland — The Computer & Communications Industry Association is leading a delegation of tech companies to meet Finnish politicians and senior officials Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of Finland taking over the Presidency of the Council of the EU. CCIA Europe will also present its EU tech policy recommendations. Finland will take over the Presidency…
Brussels, BELGIUM — Today, EU Justice Ministers adopted two negotiating mandates for bilateral and regional agreements to improve law enforcement access to e-evidence. The first negotiating mandate authorises the European Commission to enter into bilateral negotiations with the United States government to facilitate law enforcement access to digital evidence in criminal investigations on both sides…
Brussels, BELGIUM — Advocate General Maciej Szpunar of the European Court of Justice today delivered his non-binding opinion in the case of whether the removal of illegal online content should apply beyond the borders of one country, and whether hosting service providers should proactively identify and remove similar content. The case involves a user registered…
Washington — Senior U.S. government and EU officials and tech representatives discussed digital policy issues requiring cooperation like cybersecurity and online censorship at CCIA’s “Transatlantic Digital Economy 2019” event Thursday afternoon. Robert Strayer, Ambassador & Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyber and International Communications and Information Policy for the U.S. Department of State and Roberto Viola,…
Brussels, BELGIUM — The European Parliament adopted today its position on the draft Regulation on preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online. The text will form the basis of the European Parliament’s position in the final trilogue negotiations with the European Commission and the European Council. The draft Regulation was proposed by the European Commission…
