Welcome to Better Europe’s weekly update on EU Affairs.
EU PRIVACY RULES AT STAKE WITH NEW COMMISSION AI ACTION PLAN
This week, Commission Presidents Ursula von der Leyen unveiled the AI Continent Action Plan, to position Europe as a leader in artificial intelligence. The plan aims to strengthen infrastructure, improve access to data, promote cloud solutions, build skills, and simplify regulations. Wait, where have we heard that before? The focus on simplification comes within a broader context of regulatory relief, particularly with the potential threat of a future Omnibus tackling the GDPR, the EU’s landmark privacy regulation. While the Commission claims that reducing regulatory burden could spur innovation, it raises concerns that this will come at the expense of Europe’s strong data protection standards. Moreover, the plan’s emphasis on infrastructure and skills, while essential, may not be enough to counter the growing dominance of global tech giants. Europe risks losing its competitive edge if its AI strategy becomes merely reactive to advances in the US and China, rather than fostering a distinctive, values-driven AI model. If Europe wants to lead in AI, it must ensure that it does not compromise the very values that have defined its digital framework.
INFORMAL ECOFIN WELL TIMED TO ADDRESS TRUMP TURMOIL
As you are reading this edition of EU Friday, European Finance Ministers are leaving the Eurofi financial industry lobby fest in Warsaw to make it to their informal ECOFIN meeting. After a week where US President Trump’s policies created unprecedented market volatility and uncertainty, Ministers will find it hard to focus only on the original agenda, which features long-planned discussions on defence funding, an issue that despite the market turmoil remains urgent given Europe’s ongoing security concerns. This week’s rollercoaster on financial markets will however also force Ministers to discuss the global role and competitiveness of EU financial markets, which are being tested by global economic fluctuations and inflationary pressures. While informal Council meetings are not supposed to lead to formal Council conclusions, the heat is on to come to a joint position on the global economic situation. Beyond the immediate challenges, the meeting will also address how Europe can promote investment in an increasingly uncertain environment, including by providing an initial appraisal of the Commission’s recent Savings and Investment Union project.
EU COURT OF AUDITORS SAYS NGOS CAN LOBBY
What’s worse than an NGO trying to make itself redundant by spending part of its funding to lobby for the legislative change that would help achieve its objectives? Well, a large research institute pretending to be an NGO and receiving EU funding for its activities, according to a recent not-so-well-timed report by the European Court of Auditors. In fact, the timing of the report comes in the middle of a right-wing witch-hunt against NGOs and their funders, as part of an attempt to silence civil society by calling into question their independence. One would hope that MEPs would be calmed down by the message that the investigation looked into EU programs such as the European Social Fund Plus, Erasmus+, and LIFE, and could not identify a single instance of an NGO breaching EU values or engaging in misconduct. Instead, the problem seems to be with the Commission, who fail to make it clear which NGOs actually benefit from funding. The former EPP MEP responsible for the report, Laima Andrikienė, in fact explicitly confirmed that civil society groups are free to lobby law-makers when they receive EU funding.