Anticipating the Next European Commission’s Tech Policy Agenda
This Commission was notable for some significant technology regulation, including new rules impacting internet platforms, digital markets, artificial intelligence, non-personal data and cyber security. In the wake of this avalanche of regulation, voices from both industry and political spheres have emerged calling for a regulatory slowdown. We are entering a new era of tech regulation where the enforcement of these rules alone is already a substantial endeavour as well as the roll out of a plethora of secondary legislation, guidelines and standards necessary to keep these frameworks current and operational. The speed of technological change has stress-tested the traditional policymaking process and we can expect the use of self-regulatory mechanisms to expand in order to fill the gaps that regulation is too cumbersome to deal with.
The Commission President has always been cognisant of the geo-political backdrop and its impact on EU policy. The geo-political outlook today remains fraught: conflict raging on Europe’s borders and further afield and the prospect of a change in US leadership which may challenge global alignment on big policy challenges. This insecurity is likely to impact policy in tech as well as many other fields