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<span style="font-size:9pt">2</span>
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<p class="header" style="margin-right:18.000000pt" awml:style="header">
European Regional Bureau Newsletter: 8 June 2019 – 14 June 2019
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<span style="font-family:'Hind Light';color:#3a82e4">Internet Access</span> <a name="_GoBack">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Ministers adopt conclusions on post-2020 digital policy</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On 7 June, the EU’s Council of Ministers adopted</span> <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/39667/st10102-en19.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">conclusions</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on the future of a highly digitalised Europe beyond 2020: “Boosting digital and economic competitiveness across the Union and digital cohesion”.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The conclusions act as a political message to the next leadership of the European Commission on the main priorities it should address to enable a strong, competitive, innovative, and highly digitised Europe.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On the topic of access, the document acknowledges the need of further promoting the development of ultra-fast digital infrastructure, including 5G, through the establishment of test beds across the continent.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The conclusions also outline the importance of full coverage and wide use of fast broadband, underlining that the best way to achieve those is via “combined and coordinated investments at EU level”.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Other highlights include the importance of supporting R&I policies into key enabling technologies while developing Artificial Intelligence grounded in clear ethical principles.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Launch of the Digital Innovation and Scale-up initiative</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On the side-lines of the 2019 Digital Assembly, a group of institutions including the European Commission, European Investment Bank and the World Bank Group launched the</span> <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/launch-digital-innovation-and-scale-initiative-disc"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Digital Innovation and Scale-up initiative</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> (DISC) with the aim of boosting investment in start-ups in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CESEE).</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Through tailored financing tools, the DISC aims at creating a regional investment facility targeting digital innovation and the scale-up of start-ups that face higher financing risk at early stages.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The DISC’s main objective is to fill in the gap of European investment, as studies show that 46% of start-ups incubated in the CESEE area receive funding from outside the EU.</span> <p class="list_paragraph" style="text-align:justify" awml:style="List Paragraph">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Court rules Gmail is not a telecoms service</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The European Court of Justice (ECJ)</span> <a href="http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=214944&pageIndex=0&doclang=FR&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=9018760"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">ruled</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on June 13</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light';vertical-align:super">th</span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> that Gmail, Google’s email service, does not constitute a telecoms service after a German court raised the question to the ECJ.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The ruling contradicts the German telecoms regulator, which had stated in 2012 that Google’s e-mail service was a telecoms service and thus fell under the scope of Germany’s stringent telecoms rules.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The ECJ explains that “an Internet electronic messaging service that does not include Internet access, such as Gmail, is not an ‘electronic communications service’”.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">This ruling contrasts with the court’s</span> <a href="https://www.politico.eu/pro/skype-to-phone-calls-ruled-telecom-service-by-eu-top-court/"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">decision</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> last week’s on Skype that stated that their calling service did constitute a telecoms service.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Russia: National authority to soon block a list of VPNs</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Roscomnadzor, the Russian telecoms authority,</span> <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/russia-says-it-will-soon-begin-blocking-major-vpns/"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">asked</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> in March ten of the most important VPN providers – including ExpressVPN, NordVPN, IPVanish – to block websites from the country’s blacklist.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Following the companies’ non-compliance, Roscomnadzor’s Alexander Zharov stated that “the [Russian] law says unequivocally if the company refuses to comply with the law – it should be blocked”.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Implications of the statements would mean that the VPN providers would be placed in the country’s blacklist.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Global: Mexico and the EU to closely cooperate on connectivity</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">On the occasion of the second EU-Mexico digital economy</span> <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/eu-and-mexico-reinforce-cooperation-digital-and-connectivity"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">dialogue</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">, Mexico and the EU agreed to deepen their digital cooperation in the fields of eCommerce, telecoms regulation, technological standardisation and the digitisation of industry.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Among the recent projects discussed was “</span> <a href="http://www.bella-programme.eu/index.php/en/"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">BELLA</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">”, the new transatlantic submarine fibre-optic cable, as both sides highlighted the need to seize the opportunities enabled by this improved connectivity.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-family:'Hind Light';color:#3a82e4">Trust</span>
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Global: G20 main tech takeaways</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The ministers of G20 countries meeting in Japan, released this week their</span> <a href="http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2019/june/tradoc_157920.pdf"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Ministerial Statement</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> on Trade and Digital Economy, highlighting cross-border data flows as a major priority and important work area for discussions at international level.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The document includes conclusions on “human-centred AI”, “regulatory innovation”, “security in the digital economy” and acknowledges the challenges presented by the free flow of data, calling on countries to work together in order to address those related to privacy, data protection, intellectual property rights and security.</span> <p class="list_paragraph" style="text-align:justify" awml:style="List Paragraph">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Global: Facebook’s new cryptocurrency to be unveiled next week</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">According to</span> <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/f/613770/facebook-is-expected-to-unveil-its-secretive-cryptocurrency-next-week/"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">reports</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> in the Wall Street Journal, Facebook intends to release its white paper on its new digital currency next week. The official launch of the actual currency is not expected before next year.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Little is known so far about the newly created product, but companies such as Uber, Paypal, Visa and Mastercard have signed up as part of a consortium to help administer the currency.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The currency is expected to be a “stablecoin”, meaning it will be pegged to the value of a flat currency. It is believed that users will be able use the coin both inside and outside Facebook.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: European Commission releases the 2019 Digital Economy and Society Index</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The European Commission</span> <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/desi"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">released</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> its 2019 Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which monitors the EU’s overall digital performance and tracks the progress of EU countries with regards to their competitiveness level.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The study finds, unsurprisingly, that countries with established ambitious targets in relation to the EU Digital Single Market achieve better performance results. The report warns that if the EU wishes to be a global competitor, digital transformation must be accelerated.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The country-by-country assessment of the Index found that Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands are at the head of digitisation. While Greece, Romania and Bulgaria, Italy and Poland have the lowest scores.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip</span> <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-19-2930_en.htm"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">stated</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">: “The successful implementation of the Digital Single Market can significantly contribute to further improving country results. It is urgent to implement new rules to boost connectivity, data economy and digital public services as well as help Member States to equip citizens with digital skills”.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Publicly funded data is a key enabler towards digital innovation</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU Ministers</span> <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2019/06/06/eu-stimulates-digital-innovation-by-increasing-the-availability-of-publicly-funded-data/"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">adopted</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> last week new rules on open data and the reuse of public-sector information.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Alexandru Petrescu, Romania’s Minister for Communications and the Information Society, stated that “these rules…will bolster the EU’s digital industry, especially smaller companies and start-ups, which would not otherwise have access to all the data they need to innovate and expand.”</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The text will be soon be published in the Official Journal of the EU and enter into force 20 days thereafter.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: One year of GDPR – the Commission points to Greece, Portugal and Slovenia for lagging behind</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Commissioner for Justice and Consumers Vera Jourová gave a</span> <a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-19-2999_en.htm"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">keynote speech</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> during yesterday’s event “The Data Protection Regulation one year on: Taking stock in the EU and beyond”.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">She reminded how Greece, Portugal and Slovenia are still lagging behind on the GDPR regulation and identified national data protection authorities as the key for GDPR success.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">The Commissioner also acknowledged that other countries such as Brazil, Chile or Kenya are adopting similar rules, which in her view demonstrated that more countries are now “recognising the importance of protecting privacy, for individuals, and for society as a whole”.</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: Vice-President Ansip cautions against re-opening the eCommerce Directive</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">In a</span> <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2014-2019/ansip/announcements/speech-vice-president-ansip-digitalisation-new-challenge-regulation-conference-ethical-business_en"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">speech</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'"> given earlier this week, Andrus Ansip, the European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, stated that “after each scandal, some want to prohibit, regulate, accusing the Internet of being responsible for everything going wrong. We have to be very careful”.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Although the Vice President recognised that legislation approved 10 years ago might not be up to speed with current technological developments, he also warned against re-opening the 2000 e-Commerce Directive, which governs the current legal regime for many online platforms, with the intention of introducing more stringent requirements on platform liability.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">Ansip questioned the objectives around re-opening the directive, adding that: “We have solved already many issues in other legislative acts over the past years. The principle of limited liability has to stay. If not, tech giants will adapt, but smaller platforms – we have 7,000 of them in Europe – will suffer.”</span> <p style="text-align:justify">
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<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">EU: European Parliament sets up its new priorities</span>
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<span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">In the context of the first weeks of work of the newly elected European Parliament, political group leaders have been holding meetings to plan the political priorities of the next mandate.</span> <span></span><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:'Hind Light'">According to some media reports this week, environment and industrial policy (with a focus on trade and defending European commercial interests on the global stage) are at the top of the list, however, issues such as digitisation, Artificial Intelligence, and consumer policy are also expected to be of high relevance in the coming five years.</span> <p class="list_paragraph" style="text-align:justify" awml:style="List Paragraph">
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