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EU Digital Strategy

Unprecedented complexity and global reach – our offer: a holistic and strategic approach across disciplines.

The EU Digital Strategy is an ambitious and overarching project to regulate the digital economy – and it touches most international businesses in some way.

We are watching these developments closely, supporting clients with those regulations and directives that have already been enacted, and are helping to shape the regulations with support from our EU Policy Team in Brussels. We are also monitoring how these EU regulations compare with similar regulations being enacted or considered in other countries to help clients formulate a global strategy.

This hub on the EU Digital Strategy will help you stay ahead of the curve.

We are grouping the new regulations into four main areas:

 

Click on the individual regulations for a summary of their aims, applicability, timelines and the challenges they pose.

Data & Cyber Strategy

Digital Platform and Service Package

Creation of a Legal Framework for AI

Content and Other

Blogs

Uncharted territory? Opportunities, boundaries and uncertainties of text and data mining

Introduction AI systems, in particular foundation models used for generative AI applications, require training. Conducting su...

Author(s): Lutz Riede, Oliver Talhoff, Matthias Hofer

  • ai
  • eu ai act
  • eu digital strategy
  • intellectual property
  • tech media and telecoms

Law and Politics in Brussels: Discussing the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act

Last month, an expert roundtable took place convened by Freshfields’ EU Regulatory & Public Affairs team based in Brussels, t...

Author(s): Natalie Pettinger Kearney, Christoph Werkmeister, Victor Garcia Lopez

  • eu digital strategy
  • eu ai act
  • ai

The Digital Services Act: New liability rules?

No 3 of our blog post series on the Digital Services Act: The DSA's liability regime (Chapter II)  With the third post of our...

Author(s): Theresa Ehlen, Lutz Riede, Lena Hanke

  • e-commerce
  • eu digital strategy
  • europe
  • platforms
  • regulatory
  • social media
  • tech media and telecoms
  • eu digital services act

The next milestone reached: are we on the way to a digital euro?

Few endeavours on the EU’s agenda have attracted as much attention as the potential introduction of a retail central bank dig...

Author(s): Eva Schneider, Natalie Pettinger Kearney, Claire Harrop, Stephan Pachinger, Daniel Klingenbrunn

  • digital payment
  • eu digital strategy
  • europe
  • financial institutions
  • fintech
  • innovation

The Digital Services Act – baseline obligations beyond VLOP/VLOSE

No 2 of our blog post series on the Digital Services Act: General obligations for all intermediary services  This blog post t...

Author(s): Estella Dannhausen, Theresa Ehlen, Laura Knoke, Lena Hanke

  • e-commerce
  • eu digital strategy
  • europe
  • platforms
  • tech media and telecoms
  • eu digital services act

AI Act - The Parliament has had its say and final negotiations between co-legislators will start now

Today, the European Parliament has adopted its position on the AI Act. In plenary session, MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favou...

Author(s): Theresa Ehlen, Lutz Riede, Christoph Werkmeister, Julia Utzerath, Eugene McQuaid, Victor Garcia Lopez

  • eu digital strategy
  • ai
  • eu ai act

Has copyright caught up with the AI Act?

Speedread Last week, we reported that the European Parliament is pushing forward with the adoption of the Artificial Intellig...

Author(s): Lutz Riede, Giles Pratt, Matthias Hofer, Alexandra Morgan

  • ai
  • intellectual property
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu ai act
  • eu dsm directive

The final Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) - a comprehensive overview

The public view on crypto-assets ranges from the holy grail of disintermediation in financial services to mere scam. Regardle...

Author(s): Daniel Klingenbrunn, Alexander Glos, Jan Struckmann

  • blockchain
  • cryptocurrency
  • digital payment
  • eu digital strategy
  • europe
  • financial institutions
  • financing and capital markets
  • fintech
  • ico
  • regulatory

EU AI Act moves towards the final stages – Major take-aways from Parliament’s vote

More than two years after the adoption of the European Commission’s proposal on an AI Act (see our briefing here), the Europe...

Author(s): Theresa Ehlen, Lutz Riede, Christoph Werkmeister, Satya Staes Polet, Julia Utzerath, Eugene McQuaid, Victor Garcia Lopez

  • ai
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu ai act
  • eu digital services act

The Digital Services Act – Chance or Challenge?

No 1 of our blogpost series: ‘Very...

Author(s): Theresa Ehlen, Lutz Riede, Laura Knoke, Lena Hanke

  • e-commerce
  • eu digital strategy
  • europe
  • platforms
  • regulatory
  • tech media and telecoms
  • eu digital services act

The Data Act - new regulatory requirements for cloud providers on the horizon

The proposed Data Act is best known for its far-reaching data sharing obligations related to smart products. Arguably, less a...

Author(s): Estella Dannhausen, Lutz Riede, Theresa Ehlen

  • eu data act
  • eu digital strategy
  • gdpr

Robo health – the forthcoming impact of the EU AI Act on healthcare

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) systems has brought and will continue to bring transformative changes t...

Author(s): Philipp Roos, Christoph Werkmeister, Vinita Kailasanath

  • medtech
  • life sciences
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu ai act

Green light for new product safety rules affecting online marketplaces

In brief: The EU legislators have now reached agreement on the final text of the new General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR)...

Author(s): Andrew Austin, Hannah Walker Gore, Victor Garcia Lopez, Rachel Duffy

  • consumer protection
  • eu digital strategy
  • europe
  • retail and consumer goods
  • regulatory

UK explains how it will regulate AI

The UK government has published a white paper outlining its approach to the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). The w...

Author(s): Rachael Annear, Andrew Austin, Claudia Chan, Adam Gillert, Hannah Walker Gore, Maxwell Smith, Haris Ismail

  • gdpr
  • ai
  • data
  • data protection
  • ico
  • tech media and telecoms
  • europe
  • product liability
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu ai act

EU Data Act moves into the final stage - what you should be looking out for?

The Data Act was initially proposed by the European Commission in February 2022 as the second legislative pillar of the EU’s ...

Author(s): Theresa Ehlen, Christoph Werkmeister, Julia Utzerath, Eugene McQuaid, Pablo Artero Lines, Michael Schwaab

  • eu digital strategy
  • eu data governance act
  • eu data act
  • gdpr

European Media Freedom Act and M&A - Flying under the radar, but could have a material impact on future transactions

Up till now, the reactions to the European Commission’s (Commission) proposal for a European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) have no...

Author(s): Theresa Ehlen, Katharina-Sophia Rieger, Eugene McQuaid

  • eu digital strategy
  • european media freedom act

Top EU data regulation trends for 2023

2022 was a year full of challenges for global businesses, and in particular in the realm of data protection regulation in the...

Author(s): Christoph Werkmeister, Michael Schwaab, Annabelle Hamelin

  • eu digital strategy
  • eu digital services act
  • eu digital markets act
  • eu nis2 directive
  • eu data governance act
  • eu data act
  • eu ai act
  • eu cyber resilience act
  • eu ai liability directive
  • gdpr

Generative AI: Five things for lawyers to consider

Introduction  Generative artificial intelligence (‘AI’) tools are algorithms than can be used to generate new content, includ...

Author(s): Giles Pratt, Rachael Annear, Maxwell Smith, Katie Hyewon Sa, Claudia Chan, Adam Gillert

  • ai
  • data
  • tech media and telecoms
  • innovation
  • europe
  • gdpr
  • intellectual property
  • data protection
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu ai act
  • eu ai liability directive

The DSA has been signed – now what? Three key strategic challenges for platforms

Today, the Digital Services Act  (the “DSA”) has been formally signed into law by the presidents of the European Parliament a...

Author(s): Lutz Riede, Theresa Ehlen, Laura Knoke, Julia Utzerath

  • data
  • e-commerce
  • platforms
  • social media
  • eu digital strategy

European Media Freedom Act – Brussels proposes rules to strengthen media independence and pluralism

Stressing the role of free press President of the European Commission von der Leyen commented as follows in her 2021 State of...

Author(s): Theresa Ehlen, Laura Knoke, Katharina-Sophia Rieger

  • media
  • eu digital strategy
  • european media freedom act

Data Act and the interplay with existing regulations

The EU is rapidly driving its Digital Strategy forward. One of its key pillars is the Data Act – designed to facilitate indus...

Author(s): Theresa Ehlen, Christoph Werkmeister, Lutz Riede, Julia Utzerath

  • data
  • gdpr
  • data protection
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu data act

New AI liability regime unveiled by the European Commission

On 28 September 2022, the European Commission published its draft for a new Directive on liability issues related to the use ...

Author(s): Andrew Austin, Theresa Ehlen, Christoph Werkmeister, Victor Garcia Lopez

  • ai
  • product liability
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu ai act
  • eu ai liability directive
  • eu digital services act

Cybersecurity Resilience Act - EU proposes stricter cybersecurity rules for connected products

The European Commission proposed a Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) on 15 September 2022 aimed at protecting consumers and business...

Author(s): Julia Utzerath, Theresa Ehlen, Christoph Werkmeister, Eugene McQuaid

  • cyber security
  • data
  • internet of things
  • product liability
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu cyber resilience act
  • eu nis2 directive
  • eu ai act
  • eu data act
  • gdpr

Products and services in scope of the proposed EU Data Act

As part of the EU Strategy for Data, the Data Act is intended to be a landmark piece of legislation, ...

Author(s): Gernot Fritz, Estella Dannhausen, Ludwig Hartenau

  • data
  • europe
  • data act
  • innovation
  • platforms
  • retail and consumer goods
  • internet of things
  • regulatory
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu data act

Draft EU AI Act’s potential impact on the financial sector

In April 2021, the EU Commission published a draft regulation on artificial intelligence. Since then, numerous opinions have ...

Author(s): Alexander Bothe, Christoph Werkmeister

  • ai
  • financial institutions
  • data
  • fintech
  • europe
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu ai act

The European Parliament approves the final text of the Digital Markets Act

On 5 July 2022, the European Parliament approved—by an overwhelming majority—the final text of the Digital Markets Act (DMA),...

Author(s): Sharon Malhi, Sascha Schubert, Tone Oeyen, Eugene McQuaid, Rikki Haria, Konstantin Bondarenko

  • antitrust and competition
  • e-commerce
  • innovation
  • platforms
  • dma
  • digital markets act
  • regulatory
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu digital markets act

The DSA – it is coming soon!

In December 2020, the European Commission presented the legislative proposal for the Digital Services Act (DSA). Together wit...

Author(s): Theresa Ehlen, Christina Moellnitz, Eugene McQuaid

  • europe
  • regulatory
  • platforms
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu digital services act

The Digital Services Act and its Impact on the IP and Trade Secrets Landscape

Christel Schaldemose, the European Parliament's rapporteur on the Digital Services Act (DSA), said that with the DSA "we are ...

Author(s): Lutz Riede, Tobias Timmann, Philipp Sebulke

  • ecommerce
  • platforms
  • intellectual property
  • regulatory
  • eu digital strategy

The DSA - Implications for contracts

The Digital Services Act (“DSA”) is currently one of the hot topics in the industry. As previously outlined in this blogpost,...

Author(s): Christina Moellnitz, Theresa Ehlen

  • regulatory
  • litigation
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu digital services act

EU agrees on Digital Services Act

The EU is rapidly driving its Digital Strategy forward. Read our blog series to understand how the Digital Services Act will ...

Author(s): Julia Utzerath, Eugene McQuaid

  • ai
  • data
  • e-commerce
  • tech media and telecoms
  • platforms
  • regulatory
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu digital services act

Making the most of health data: Commission publishes proposal for a European Health Data Space

On 3 May 2022, the European Commission published its proposal for a regulation on the so-called European Health Data Space (E...

Author(s): Philipp Roos, Katharina Reinhardt

  • data
  • data protection
  • life sciences
  • europe
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu health data space
  • european data spaces

Data Governance Act: the first building block of EU data policy

About two years ago the European Union presented a vision for the digital future of the EU. This ambitious programme includes...

Author(s): Alex Schmidtke, Christoph Werkmeister

  • data protection
  • europe
  • regulatory
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu data governance act

One fewer gating item - the EU reaches political agreement on the Digital Markets Act

After more than a year of negotiations, three trilogues and significant debate, the European Commission (the Commission), Eur...

Author(s): Sharon Malhi, Sascha Schubert, Thomas Lübbig, Konstantin Bondarenko, Koo Asakura, Ole Schley

  • platforms
  • regulatory
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu digital markets act

Data meets healthcare: EU plans for a European Health Data Space Regulation

According to a leaked draft legislative proposal by the European Commission, which is expected to be officially published thi...

Author(s): Philipp Roos, Christoph Werkmeister, Michael Ramb

  • data protection
  • life sciences
  • europe
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu health data space
  • european data spaces

Stimulating a competitive data market and data-driven innovation: What is the impact of the new Data Act?

Data Access at the Crossroads On 23 February 2022, the European Commission officially published its draft of the forthcoming ...

Author(s): Uta Itzen, Christoph Werkmeister, Rikki Haria, Vera Ibes, Ole Schley

  • data
  • antitrust and competition
  • data protection
  • internet of things
  • europe
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu data act

Data access by design? EU plans major overhaul of data-sharing rules with the forthcoming Data Act

Like us, those interested in data regulation have most likely earmarked February 23, 2022 in their calendars, as the date of ...

Author(s): Vera Ibes

  • data protection
  • europe
  • regulatory
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu data act
  • gdpr

Another step towards EU digital sovereignty: the European Alliance for Industrial Data, Edge and Cloud

On 19 July 2021, the European Commission (EC) launched the European Alliance for Industrial Data, Edge and Cloud. The Allianc...

Author(s): Corinna Wiedenmann, Christoph Werkmeister

  • data
  • europe
  • eu digital strategy

The EU and AI: A New Interface?

2020 marked the start of the EU’s regulatory advance into the areas of online platforms and big data with the publication of ...

Author(s): Alicja Klosok

  • ai
  • europe
  • regulatory
  • eu digital strategy

The tough task of balancing the interests of platforms, rightsholders and users: implementing article 17 of the EU DSM Directive

Article 17 of the EU Digital Single Markets (DSM) Directive (‘the Directive’) sparked a heated public debate far beyond the u...

Author(s): Oliver Talhoff

  • intellectual property
  • europe
  • regulation
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu dsm directive

The top five European data protection trends for 2021

Developments in the world of data protection are unceasing. Let’s have a look at the top five European trends we see for the ...

Author(s): Annabelle Hamelin, Michael Schwaab

  • data protection
  • europe
  • gdpr
  • regulation
  • eu digital strategy

The Digital Services Act – taking (more) responsibility

Slightly later than anticipated, the European Commission published its long-awaited legislative package, comprising the Digit...

Author(s): Michael Evans

  • ecommerce
  • platforms
  • europe
  • regulatory
  • eu digital strategy

A Christmas present from Brussels: The Digital Markets Act

The European Commission presented its widely heralded legislative proposals on regulating the role of so-called “gatekeeper” ...

Author(s): Koo Asakura, Sharon Malhi, Rikki Haria

  • platforms
  • regulatory
  • europe
  • antitrust and competition
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu digital markets act

EU Commission unveils Action Plan on Intellectual Property

On 25 November 2020 and coinciding with the publication of its proposal for a Data Governance Act, the EU Commission has publ...

Author(s): Lutz Riede, Matthias Koch

  • data
  • intellectual property
  • europe
  • regulatory
  • internet of things
  • patents
  • eu digital strategy

Trust in the middleman? Data sharing service providers under the proposed European Data Governance Act

The European Commission (EC) has taken an all-important first step in implementing its European Data Strategy, which was anno...

Author(s): Cosmas Weigel

  • europe
  • data protection
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu data governance act
  • eu data act
  • eu digital services act

The Digital Services Act – a liability regime for user content for the next twenty years?

What should we expect? The legal framework for digital services in the EU has been largely unchanged since the adoption of th...

Author(s): Michael Evans

  • platforms
  • europe
  • eu digital strategy

The EU’s P2B regulation: what you need to know

With 1 million businesses already selling goods and services via online platforms across the EU’s internal market, large onli...

Author(s): Lutz Riede, Matthias Hofer

  • e-commerce
  • platforms
  • technology media & telecoms
  • regulatory
  • europe
  • eu digital strategy

EU unveils the Fintech Action Plan 2.0 – with financial innovation at its heart

On 24 September, the European Commission ('the Commission') published the follow-up to its 2018 Fintech Action Plan, which en...

Author(s): Eva Schneider, Miriam Broucek, Eugene McQuaid, Natalie Pettinger Kearney

  • europe
  • fintech
  • digital payment
  • cryptocurrency
  • regulation
  • payments
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu data act
  • eu digital services act
  • eu eidas 2

Regulating the (quasi-)regulators? The European Commission’s proposal for a digital gatekeeper regulation

While 2019 was the year in which competition authorities sought to deepen their understanding of digital markets through acad...

Author(s): Gian Luca Zampa, Ermelinda Spinelli, Roberta Laghi, Martin Dickson

  • europe
  • antitrust and competition
  • eu digital strategy

The EU’s (proposed) new competition tool – a paradigm shift towards more intervention in digital markets and possibly beyond

When, on 2 June 2020, the European Commission started a public consultation on its proposed new competition tool (NCT), this ...

Author(s): Thomas Lübbig

  • europe
  • antitrust and competition
  • eu digital strategy

European Commission’s communication on the European digital agenda: shaping Europe’s digital future

On 19 February 2020, the European Commission issued a communication (PDF) outlining its three key objectives that will help E...

Author(s): Andreas Schuler

  • regulatory
  • europe
  • digital economy
  • technology
  • fintech
  • sustainability
  • financial institutions
  • antitrust and competition
  • fig competition
  • eu digital strategy

EU sets out its ambition for shaping Europe’s digital future

On 19 February, the EU Commission published a communication on shaping Europe’s digital future ('the communication') together...

Author(s): Eugene McQuaid

  • ai
  • data
  • data protection
  • europe
  • antitrust and competition
  • fintech
  • cyber and data
  • financial institutions
  • fig competition
  • eu digital strategy

AI technology: a lawyers’ guide

As AI becomes more prevalent in our lives the law will need to adapt. However, lawmakers have been struggling to draft a defi...

Author(s): Sam Hancock, Giles Pratt

  • ai
  • eu digital strategy
  • eu ai act
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