American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (AmCham EU)’s Post

Since this morning, the #EuropeanParliament is having the first Plenary session of its new legislature. 🏛 What are the key events happening during the first European plenary session? 👐 How does the European Parliament welcome and assist newly elected MEPs in their roles? 📆 What is the agenda of this week's session? I answer these questions and more in this week's article on The Beubble. Read it here 👇

🇪🇺 EU Affairs Ministers are in Brussels today. 🎉 The meeting takes place in the framework of the 20th anniversary of the 2004 enlargement. 1/2 Ministers discuss the enlargement process, including lessons learned from the 2004 enlargement. Special attention will be given to the need to strengthen the European Union and its toolbox, particularly in the field of the rule of law. All ten partners with a European perspective are invited to this meeting. This new format underscores the Union’s close partnership with aspiring members, whose future lies within the European Union. 2/2 The third and final working session will be dedicated to the future of the EU. Building on earlier discussions, Ministers will exchange views on the steps and reforms that are needed to strengthen the Union’s capacity to act.

Data Act: Council adopts new law on fair access to and use of data. See https://lnkd.in/eVFdpxnn Main elements of the new regulation Scope of the legislation The new regulation will allow users of connected devices, ranging from smart household appliances to intelligent industrial machines, to gain access to data generated by their use which is often exclusively harvested by manufacturers and service providers. Regarding Internet of Things (IoT) data, the new law focuses, in particular, on the functionalities of the data collected by connected products instead of the products themselves. It introduces the distinction between ‘product data’ and ‘related service data’, from which readily available data can be shared. Data sharing and compensation The new law contains measures to prevent abuse of contractual imbalances in data sharing contracts due to unfair contractual terms imposed by a party with significantly stronger bargaining position. These measures will protect EU companies from unfair agreements and give SMEs more room for manoeuvre. Moreover, the text of the regulation provides additional guidance by the Commission regarding the reasonable compensation of businesses for making the data available. When it comes to such requests to access data in the ‘business to government’ context, the new regulation provides that personal data will only be shared in exceptional circumstances, such as a natural disaster, a pandemic, a terror attack, and if the data required is not otherwise accessible. Micro and small-sized enterprises will also contribute their data in such cases and will be compensated. Benefits for consumers The new law will allow consumers to move easily from one cloud provider to another. Safeguards against unlawful data transfers have been also introduced, as have interoperability standards for data sharing and processing. Finally, the expectation from the new law is that it could make after-sale service of certain devices cheaper and more efficient. Governance model The new regulation preserves member states’ flexibility to organise the implementation and enforcement tasks at national level. The coordinating authority, in those member states where such coordination role will be required, will act as a single point of contact and be labelled as ‘data coordinator’. Next steps Following today’s formal adoption by the Council, the new regulation will be published in the EU’s official journal in the coming weeks and will enter into force the twentieth day after this publication. It shall apply from 20 months from the date of its entry into force. However, article 3, paragraph 1 (requirements for simplified access to data for new products), shall apply to connected products and the services related to them placed on the market after 32 months from the date of entry into force of the regulation.

CT4EU study results [https://lnkd.in/ePAquBw5] served as the basis for the positions developed by UIRR. For this reason, CT4EU supports the UIRR positions.

Our director Ben Eersels at the European Parliament panel on democratic innovation 🗣️ He shared three proposals for the next European legislature: ✅ Make sure all countries have access to deliberative democracy, not just wealthy ones ✅ Use Citizens' Assemblies to tackle the most contentious issues next legislature such as agriculture, migration... Citizens can deliver on these issues as well. ✅ Create a second Parliament for citizens, so citizens can become a fixed part of policy-making. Just like in Ostbelgien, citizens could structurally work around EU policies.

A new way to elect the EU president? No more VETO voting? The European Parliament has set the stage for a potential seismic shift towards a more federalized European Union with a new proposal that seeks to alter the bloc's fabric in three substantial ways. This initiative calls for a comprehensive reshaping of EU institutions, exemplified by changes to the presidential election process and the veto vote mechanism. It also advocates for expanding EU competencies, granting the Union greater exclusive powers that may redefine the balance between EU governance and national sovereignty. Finally, it proposes a robust enforcement of EU authority by amending the consensus requirement of Article 7, thus streamlining the Union's ability to act decisively. This compact yet potent set of reforms could mark a pivotal point in the evolution of the EU's political dynamics. At the minute 9:23, the intervention of the UEF President, Domenec Ruiz Devesa, Member of the European Federalists. This video is co-produced by the Union of the European Federalists, co-funded by CERV grant 2023 of the European Union, and YouTube Channel (https://lnkd.in/eXrRuhyW)

The federalist and pro-European organisations, the Union of European Federalists, Young European Federalists, the Parliamentary Intergroup Spinelli Group, and the Jean Monnet Association, are co-signatories of five letters that we publish below addressed to the Presidency and Secretariat of the main pro-European political families in the European Parliament - EPP, PES, Greens, ALDE, EDP. Each letter recalls the point in their electoral programme arguing for a reform of the Treaties to strengthen the European Union to make it fit for the challenges of our time. Read here: https://lnkd.in/eiUcrvsV

Final vote on new EU packaging and packaging waste rules is expected this week. When this legislation was being developed, politicians' opinions diverged on what counts as green alternatives to unrecyclable plastic waste. 🗣 Companies and their lobbyists want loose, adaptable, "this OR that OR something else" type of targets, if any. In other words, they want to freely choose if their packaging should be reusable OR recyclable OR compostable (if some locality doesn't have composting infrastructure, businesses think it's the public sector's problem, not theirs). ✋ The European Commission thinks that plastic is plastic is plastic, whatever source it's derived from. The EU's executive's position is that bioplastics are helpful in some applications, but not as a convenient substitute for businesses that want to avoid designing for recyclability and reuse. 🙈 Most national governments try to avoid more targets and rules being set for their administrations to implement. 🤼 Various national and industrial positions clashed in the European Parliament. Who is winning? Simone Fant, Jelena M. and I looked into this in our investigation, supported by Journalismfund Europe: https://lnkd.in/ekehXdMD

♻️ Final vote tomorrow at European Parliament for sustainable plastic packagings #PlasticPackagingWasteRegulation : boost #recycledcontent, reduce unnecessary packaging, improve collection and #recycling will be the new rules with ambitious targets ! The #plasticsrecyclingindustry is ready to rise to the challenge! stay tuned #circulareconomy #decarbonization

For anyone interested in learning more about the #AFCO report on potential #EU Treaty changes!