§ The European Union is opening a new outpost in San Francisco.
§ The office will facilitate cooperation between
European regulators and major technology firms.
§ A European Commission spokesperson said the
office will further “strengthen transatlantic technological cooperation.”
The European Union is opening a new office in
California’s Silicon Valley, giving European regulators direct access to major
digital technology companies—and vice versa.
The office, officially opening 1 September,
comes as the EU prepares to implement two landmark technology regulations: the
Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA). Both pieces of
legislation, set to go into effect this autumn, are expected to have global
implications and influence how tech giants like Meta and Google operate around
the world.
“The office will strengthen the EU’s capacity
to reach out to key public and private stakeholders, including policy-makers,
the business sector and civil society in the digital technology sector,” said
Charles Manoury, a spokesperson for the European Commission.
The office will be led by Gerard de Graaf, the
European Commission’s director of digital economy and a longtime EU official
focusing on cybersecurity and digital policy. It will be located in the city of
San Francisco and operate under the authority of the EU delegation in
Washington, DC.
It will promote EU
digital policies, standards and regulations, governance models and
technologies, and strengthen cooperation with US counterparts—Charles Manoury,
European Commission spokesperson
The opening of the new outpost follows the
European Council’s adoption of the Conclusions on EU Digital Diplomacy,
a broad framework that seeks to enhance the EU’s regulatory capacity with
partners around the world. The agreement notes that all digital policy should
be “built on universal human rights, fundamental freedoms, the rule of law and
democratic principles.”
“The United States is a leader in tech
innovation while the European Union wants to be a leader in tech regulation,”
said Christian Borggreen, the vice president and head of Europe office for the
Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), a not-for-profit tech
advocacy organisation whose members include Google, Amazon, Twitter and
Facebook, among others.
In 2018, the EU enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),
which significantly changed how tech companies handle consumer data and helped
make Europe a standard-bearer with regards to tech regulation. Notably, the
GDPR instituted the so-called right to be forgotten, which mandates that
digital technology companies must provide consumers with the option to have
their personal data erased.
The DMA and the DSA—passed by the European
Commission in March and April 2022, respectively—are the latest major tech
regulations coming out of Brussels. As a package, the policies aims to create a
safer digital ecosystem for internet users as well as a more open and fair
digital market for technology companies. This includes, for instance, new rules
aimed at curbing illegal hate speech and limiting business practices that
stifle competition.
“10 years ago, a page was turned on ‘too big
to fail’ banks. Now—with DSA and DMA—we’re turning the page on ‘too big to
care’ platforms,” Thierry Breton, the EU Commissioner for internal market, said
in a statement following the regulations’ adoption by the European Parliament
in July 2022.
The regulatory framework, which was subject
to lobbying by major tech companies,
was also widely hailed by international non-governmental
organisations and human rights groups.
With regards to the EU’s new San Francisco
office, Borggreen stated that the EU’s presence will help make “sure that tech
firms understand the wave of new EU regulation that is coming their way, as all
companies should have a fair chance to implement and comply with these new
rules.”
Manoury, the European Commission spokesperson,
added that the office further advances Europe’s “commitment to strengthen
transatlantic technological cooperation.”
Source: europeansting.com