Lobbying is an essential democratic tool that allows organisations and individuals to provide input for policy and decision-making. However, without transparency mechanisms, it can result in undue influence, unfair competition, and even corruption. The EU’s lawmakers – the Commission, Parliament and Council – have signed up to the EU transparency register, a central entry point […]
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Commission publishes guidelines for the mitigation of systemic risks online for elections
The Commission has published guidelines on recommended measures to Very Large Online Platforms and Search Engines to mitigate systemic risks online that may impact the integrity of elections, with specific guidance for the upcoming European Parliament elections in June. Under the Digital Services Act (DSA), designated services with more than 45 million active users in the EU […]
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CJEU clarifies: the supervisory authority of a Member State may order the erasure of unlawfully processed data even in the absence of a prior request by the data subject
Such erasure may cover data collected from that person and data originating from another source. In 2020, the municipal administration of Újpest (Hungary) decided to provide financial support to persons who had been made vulnerable by the COVID-19 pandemic. To that end, it asked the Hungarian State Treasury and the government office of the fourth […]
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Council gives green light to new legislation toughening penalties and extending the list of environmental offences
The Council formally adopted a directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law. The law will improve the investigation and prosecution of environmental crime offences. The directive establishes EU-wide minimum rules on the definition of criminal offences and penalties. It replaces the previous law which dates back to 2008. The law will only […]
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European Commission recommends measures to fight counterfeiting and better protect intellectual property rights
The Commission has adopted a Recommendation to combat counterfeiting, both offline and online, and enhance the enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR). The Recommendation, also known as the EU toolbox against counterfeiting, aims to foster collaboration between rights holders, service providers, and law enforcement, while encouraging best practices and the use of modern tools and […]
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Council gives final approval to new EU rules on short-term accommodation rentals
The Council has adopted a regulation on data collection and sharing for short-term accommodation rental services. This legislative act will enhance transparency in the field of short-term accommodation rentals and will help public authorities regulate this increasingly important part of the tourism sector. This is the last step in the decision-making procedure. Transparency and data […]
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Commission initiates formal proceedings against AliExpress under the Digital Services Act
The Commission has opened formal proceedings to assess whether AliExpress may have breached the Digital Services Act (DSA) in areas linked to the management and mitigation of risks, to content moderation and the internal complaint handling mechanism, to the transparency of advertising and recommender systems, to the traceability of traders and to data access for researchers. On the basis […]
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Parliament approves measures to reduce industrial and farm pollution
The new rules will reduce harmful emissions from industrial installations and large pig and poultry farms to protect human health and the environment. Parliament adopted the deal with member states on the revision of the industrial emission directive (IED) with 393 votes in favour, 173 against and 49 abstentions, and the new regulation on the Industrial Emissions Portal with […]
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Designated gatekeepers must now comply with all obligations under the Digital Markets Act
As of last week, Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and ByteDance, the six gatekeepers designated by the Commission in September 2023, have to fully comply with all obligations in the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The DMA aims to make digital markets in the EU more contestable and fairer. It establishes new rules for 10 defined […]
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