EU Archives

In Cybersecurity

New Cybersecurity Law Regulates Far Beyond Critical Infrastructure

September 5, 2024 by Dr Lukas Feiler, Prof. Dr. Michael Schmidl and Silvia Grohmann 5 Mins Read

The EU’s new Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) and its transpositions into the national laws of Member States will – contrary to all political objectives – not only apply to critical infrastructures, but all sectors of the economy. The threats to corporate cybersecurity no longer come from teenage hackers. They come from highly professional international criminal organizations and hostile state actors. In particular, the phenomenon of ransomware – malware that encrypts corporate data and…

In AI Act

EU AI Act Published: Dates for Action

July 12, 2024 by Ben Allgrove, Vinod Bange, Karen Battersby, Helen Davenport, Elisabeth Dehareng, Cristina Duch, Dr Lukas Feiler, Francesca Gaudino, Kathy Harford, Megan McGleenon, Sue McLean, Jose María Méndez, Prof. Dr. Michael Schmidl, Eva-Maria Strobel and Florian Tannen 4 Mins Read

In Brief The long-awaited EU AI Act was published in the Official Journal of the European Union today, 12 July 2024. The Act regulates activities across the AI lifecycle, as covered in more detail in our previous post, and the countdown for implementation has now started for companies developing or deploying AI technologies, with the Act entering into force 20 days after its publication on 1 August 2024. The Act as a whole is generally…

In Digital Media & Content

A legal framework for NFTs and other tradeable assets in video games: the Great French Experiment

April 15, 2024 by Magalie Dansac Le Clerc, Marlyse Lissan and Juliette Gomes 5 Mins Read

On 10 April 2024, the French National Assembly adopted the Bill on Securing and Regulating the Digital Space (known as the “SREN Bill”), following the Senate’s validation a week earlier. The Bill contains a multitude of provisions, regarding a variety of important topics in the digital realm such as the protection of children online and reducing dependence of French companies on cloud service providers. The bill is expected to become law in the coming weeks.…

In Data Privacy

The new EU regulation on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (“Data Act”)

March 21, 2024 by Simone (Bach) Rieken LL.M., John McGovern and Marilyn Acquah 5 Mins Read

Where can I find the text of the Data Act? The published text can be found here. What is the Data Act about? What else is governed by the Data Act? Who and what is in scope? 1. Actors, products and services 2. Categories of data Timeline

In Artificial Intelligence

EU AI Act finally adopted: what’s next?

March 13, 2024 by Kathy Harford, Karen Battersby, Elisabeth Dehareng, Dr Lukas Feiler, Jose María Méndez, Vinod Bange, Francesca Gaudino, Florian Tannen, Prof. Dr. Michael Schmidl, Ben Allgrove, Kate Alexander, Cristina Duch and Sue McLean 7 Mins Read

The EU AI Act was adopted by the European Parliament today and is expected to enter into force within a few months, with its first substantive provisions taking effect before the end of 2024. The EU AI Act applies across the AI lifecycle – from developers to deployers of AI technologies – and organisations across industries have been watching its progress closely. Now that it is finally approved, we set out below what’s next, and…

In Artificial Intelligence

EU AI Act edges even closer to implementation

February 13, 2024 by Sue McLean, Vinod Bange and Karen Battersby 2 Mins Read

Hot on the heels of the unanimous vote by Ambassadors for the EU Member States (COREPER) approving the EU AI Act on 2 February (see our article on that vote here: Is the EU AI Act nearing the finish line? – Connect On Tech, today lawmakers from the EU Parliament have also overwhelmingly voted in favour of the Act as it continues on its legislative journey. The joint internal market and civil liberties committee of…

In Data Privacy

New EU regulation on digital evidence opens up risk of data misuse

February 9, 2024 by Dr Lukas Feiler, Mark Nemeth, Vinod Bange, Eva-Maria Strobel, Francesca Gaudino and Elisabeth Dehareng 6 Mins Read

The new EU regulation on electronic evidence will enable law enforcement authorities from one EU member state to order service providers in other EU member states to surrender digital evidence. Providers who fail to comply within ten days or, in urgent cases, within eight hours, could face fines of up to two percent of their global group turnover. We manage our calendars online, store photos in the cloud, many of us haven’t seen the inside…

In Artificial Intelligence

Is the EU AI Act nearing the finish line?

February 5, 2024 by Vinod Bange, Karen Battersby, Elisabeth Dehareng, Julia Dickenson, Dr Lukas Feiler, Francesca Gaudino, Kathy Harford, Sue McLean, Jose María Méndez, Eva-Maria Strobel, Florian Tannen and Anahita Thoms 4 Mins Read

A key step towards adoption of the EU AI Act was reached last Friday as the draft text received unanimous approval from the European Council’s main preparatory body. There are further votes to follow before the Act is adopted, but it’s looking likely that the final vote will take place in April and some substantive provisions of the Act could be in force soon after that, possibly by the end of the year. We set…

In Artificial Intelligence

The EU Draft AI Convention: Top 5 Talking Points

January 19, 2024 by Jaspreet Takhar, Francesca Gaudino, Vinod Bange, Jose María Méndez, Sue McLean, Ben Allgrove, Dr Lukas Feiler, Elisabeth Dehareng, Florian Tannen and Eva-Maria Strobel 3 Mins Read

Whilst the EU’s AI Act has been grabbing all the headlines, the draft AI Convention has been flying under the radar. But not for much longer. The Convention, also sometimes called the ‘AI Treaty’, has been drafted by the Council of Europe. If adopted, it will be the first legally binding international convention on AI. The latest draft is not the final version, but contains text that is still subject to negotiation. We’ve set out…

In Data Privacy

Getting ready for the EU Data Act

January 8, 2024 by Michaela Nebel, Magalie Dansac Le Clerc, Florian Tannen, Elisabeth Dehareng, Prof. Dr. Michael Schmidl, Dr Lukas Feiler, Vinod Bange, Jose María Méndez, Pablo Uslé, Patricia Pérez, David Molina, Francesca Gaudino and Kathy Harford 6 Mins Read

On December 22, 2023 the EU Regulation on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data, also known as the Data Act, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. It shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication, namely on January 11, 2024, and become applicable on September 12, 2025. The Data Act affects manufacturers of connected products and also providers of related services, including virtual…