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European Tech Alliance

EUTA

EUTA represents leading European tech companies providing innovative products and services to 500 million users across the EU.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Arba Kokalari (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Dec 2025 · Digital simplification and competitiveness

Meeting with Andreas Schwab (Member of the European Parliament) and Booking.com B.V. and

5 Nov 2025 · Digital omnibus

Response to Digital Fairness Act

24 Oct 2025

The European Tech Alliance (EUTA) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commissions consultation on the topic of digital fairness. We fully share the Commissions objective of upholding strong consumer protection in Europe. Consumer trust in digital products and services is a cornerstone of the Single Market, and safeguarding this trust is essential for Europes competitiveness. Please find attached a position paper outlining our views, taking into account the elements presented in the public consultation.
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Meeting with Piotr Müller (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Oct 2025 · Current legislative and regulatory work on digital markets

Meeting with Stéphanie Yon-Courtin (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Oct 2025 · Digital Markets Act

Meeting with Michael McGrath (Commissioner) and

15 Oct 2025 · Exchange of views on the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act

European Tech Alliance seeks relief from overlapping digital rules

14 Oct 2025
Topic — Simplification of EU digital legislation including AI, data protection, and cybersecurity reporting.
Message — The alliance requests alignment between conflicting regulatory frameworks, including harmonizing GDPR and ePrivacy rules, raising AI Act FLOP thresholds, and streamlining cybersecurity incident reporting across NIS2, DORA, and GDPR. They want recognition of privacy-enhancing technologies and elimination of redundant reporting requirements.1234
Why — This would reduce compliance costs from managing 27 different national implementations and duplicative reporting.567
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Meeting with Eric Ducoulombier (Acting Director Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union)

13 Oct 2025 · Exchange on selected topics of the PSD3/PSR legislative package

Meeting with Nils Behrndt (Deputy Secretary-General Secretariat-General)

17 Sept 2025 · Simplification of EU digital legislation and Digital Fairness Act

Meeting with Morten Løkkegaard (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

2 Jul 2025 · Payments

Meeting with Sebastian Tynkkynen (Member of the European Parliament)

12 Jun 2025 · EUTA:n iltavastaanotto

Meeting with Anna Cavazzini (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair) and Allegro sp. z o.o. and

12 Jun 2025 · Digital policy

Meeting with Sebastian Tynkkynen (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Jun 2025 · Teknologia-alan asiat

European Tech Alliance urges simpler AI rules for innovators

3 Jun 2025
Topic — This consultation addresses the EU strategy to accelerate adoption of industrial AI technologies.
Message — EUTA calls for a predictable framework that avoids overreaching when defining high-risk systems. They demand regulatory simplification for all European innovators including scale-ups and large companies. The alliance seeks aligned reporting obligations across digital regulations to prevent costly duplication.123
Why — This would lower administrative burdens and speed up market access for digital products.45
Impact — Consumer groups might see reduced protections if high-risk AI definitions are narrowed.67
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Meeting with Egelyn Braun (Cabinet of Commissioner Michael McGrath)

29 Apr 2025 · Exchange of views on the forthcoming Digital Fairness Act

Meeting with Renate Nikolay (Deputy Director-General Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and Booking.com B.V. and

1 Apr 2025 · Exchange of views on AI Act, DSA, enforcement cooperation, digital taxation.

Meeting with Ioan-Dragos Tudorache (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné) and Booking.com B.V. and

25 Mar 2025 · Challenges for European tech companies that want to leverage AI to compete globally. Need for a coherent, proportionate, and effectively enforced regulatory framework that increases the competitiveness of European industry.

Meeting with Brando Benifei (Member of the European Parliament)

20 Mar 2025 · Implementation of the AI Act

Meeting with Marco Giorello (Head of Unit Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs and

19 Mar 2025 · Code of Conduct on Online Advertising – Workshop 4

Response to EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy

17 Mar 2025

European Tech Alliance (EUTA) Recommendations to Empower EU Startups and Scale-ups 1. Simplify Tech Regulation Before introducing new tech regulations, the European Commission must assess overlaps and compliance costs after existing rules have taken effect. Any impact assessment should consider newly adopted legislation. European platforms face a complex regulatory landscape, with around 100 tech laws and over 270 regulators across Member States. The EU's precautionary approach imposes strict business rules upfront, discouraging digital companies from expanding via subsidiaries due to inconsistent national requirements and excessive regulatory burdens. Compliance can consume up to 30% of resources, diverting investment from innovation. The Draghi report estimates the EU loses 10% of GDP potential due to regulatory complexity. 2. Improve Financing for Innovation, Startups & Scale-ups Fragmentation in the Single Market hampers scaling, reducing demand for financing. The EU's venture capital (VC) sector lags behind the US, raising just 5% of global VC funds compared to 52% in the US and 40% in China. Europes incomplete Single Market limits growth prospects, prompting many high-potential EU companies to seek US financing and scale abroad. Between 2008 and 2021, 147 European unicorns were created - 40 moved their headquarters abroad, mainly to the US, due to better growth opportunities. 3. Boost Europes Competitiveness To remain competitive, Europe must ensure its regulatory framework fosters innovation and enables businesses to compete globally. (a) We must reduce costs related to: Compliance with inconsistent national regulations Tax complexity Rules triggered by business size thresholds (b) Europe should also expand regulatory sandboxes, allowing businesses to test innovations in controlled environments before full-scale compliance. 4. Achieve a Single Market of Enforcement Regulations are only as effective as their enforcement. Divergent interpretations of EU digital laws create market fragmentation, leading to inconsistent compliance obligations. A true Single Market of Enforcement requires: (a) Consistent application of EU rules: Improved cooperation among national authorities (within and between member states, and at EU level) to harmonise enforcement, simplify compliance, and avoid contradictions. Better coordination will also speed up enforcement. (b) A level playing field: All companies operating in Europe, regardless of origin, must adhere to the same EU standards. 5. Attract & Retain Talent Europe must adopt best practices for visas, streamline processes, and embrace remote work through a unified approach. Stronger collaboration between universities and businesses can align education with industry needs. Key steps include: A European Tech Talent Visa to attract skilled professionals, allowing them to work across EU countries with fast-tracked residency. Stronger partnerships between tech companies and universities to ensure academic training meets industry demands. Conclusion To empower homegrown digital companies, Europe must simplify regulations, foster innovation, and ensure fair competition. Close collaboration between regulators, businesses, and academia is crucial to shaping a globally competitive digital economy.
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Meeting with Marco Giorello (Head of Unit Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and EuroCommerce and

6 Mar 2025 · Code of Conduct on Online Advertising – Workshop 2

Meeting with Marco Giorello (Head of Unit Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and EuroCommerce and

4 Mar 2025 · Code of Conduct on Online Advertising – Workshop 1

Meeting with Arba Kokalari (Member of the European Parliament)

19 Feb 2025 · Digital policy

Meeting with Rita Wezenbeek (Director Communications Networks, Content and Technology) and

11 Feb 2025 · Opening Session: DSA roundtable discussions on online advertising (Article 46 DSA)

Meeting with Michael Mcnamara (Member of the European Parliament)

31 Jan 2025 · Digital Policy

European Tech Alliance Urges EU to Simplify Digital Regulations

28 Jan 2025
Topic — The European Commission is consulting on strategies to improve the EU's single market.
Message — EUTA requests that the Commission assesses regulatory overlaps and compliance costs before proposing rules. They advocate for a harmonized approach to replace the current patchwork of laws. They want rules to target specific business models instead of one-size-fits-all bans.12
Why — Streamlining regulations would lower compliance costs and free up resources for technical innovation.3
Impact — Large non-European tech giants would lose the competitive advantage provided by regulatory fragmentation.4
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Meeting with Pablo Arias Echeverría (Member of the European Parliament)

27 Jan 2025 · IMCO Priorities regarding new term

Meeting with Maria Guzenina (Member of the European Parliament) and European FinTech Association

22 Jan 2025 · E-commerce

Meeting with Pierfrancesco Maran (Member of the European Parliament)

21 Jan 2025 · Priorities for the new legislature

Meeting with Saskia Bricmont (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

21 Jan 2025 · European tech

Meeting with Henrik Dahl (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur for opinion)

14 Jan 2025 · AI Liability

Meeting with Andreas Schwab (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Dec 2024 · Digital Fairness Act

Meeting with Birgit Sippel (Member of the European Parliament) and European Digital Rights and

11 Dec 2024 · European Internet Forum Breakfast Protecting Children Online

Meeting with Christophe Grudler (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Dec 2024 · Politique européen pour les start-ups

Meeting with Anthony Whelan (Cabinet of President Ursula von der Leyen)

20 Nov 2024 · tech policies

Meeting with Elena Sancho Murillo (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Nov 2024 · Relevant issues to the ITRE Committee

Meeting with Morten Løkkegaard (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Oct 2024 · Europe’s digital policy

Meeting with Dóra Dávid (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Oct 2024 · Legislative priorities for the 10th legislature

Meeting with Alexandra Geese (Member of the European Parliament)

2 Oct 2024 · Enforcement of digital legislation, upcoming legislation and administrative burdens

Meeting with Svenja Hahn (Member of the European Parliament) and Booking.com B.V. and

2 Oct 2024 · Exchange between MEPs and European Tech companies

Meeting with Dimitris Tsiodras (Member of the European Parliament)

2 Oct 2024 · Digital fairness, tech sovereignty and competitiveness and data economy

Meeting with Bart Groothuis (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Sept 2024 · Cybersecurity, tech and digital policies

Meeting with Svenja Hahn (Member of the European Parliament) and Zalando SE and

17 Sept 2024 · EU's Digital Policy

Meeting with Eero Heinäluoma (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Sept 2024 · Current Affairs

Meeting with Gints Freimanis (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis) and Zalando SE and

12 Sept 2024 · E-commerce

Meeting with Roberto Viola (Director-General Communications Networks, Content and Technology)

6 Mar 2024 · DMA, DSA, AI

Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner)

6 Mar 2024 · Competitiveness and talent, Platform work directive, Artificial Intelligence regulation and opportunities

Meeting with Didier Reynders (Commissioner) and

6 Mar 2024 · GDPR, consumers

Meeting with Thierry Breton (Commissioner) and

6 Mar 2024 · Platform regulation

European Tech Alliance demands harmonised and risk-based GDPR enforcement

7 Feb 2024
Topic — The Commission is evaluating the application of the General Data Protection Regulation six years later.
Message — The alliance calls for a consistent and harmonised approach to address diverging interpretations by national authorities. They advocate for a risk-based approach that balances data privacy with other fundamental rights. Furthermore, they request greater engagement with industry and the promotion of sector-specific codes of conduct.123
Why — Greater harmonisation would reduce legal uncertainty and the high costs of adapting to local requirements.4
Impact — Legal practitioners and litigants using data rights for financial gain would face restricted opportunities.5
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European Tech Alliance Seeks More Flexible Content Moderation Reporting

23 Jan 2024
Topic — The Commission is setting mandatory templates for transparency reports under the Digital Services Act.
Message — EUTA requests more time for compliance and a reduction in granular data requirements. They suggest replacing precise reporting in seconds with indicative timeframes and extending publication windows.123
Why — This would lower compliance costs and allow firms to focus on innovation instead of administration.4
Impact — Researchers and policymakers lose the ability to effectively compare and analyze platform safety data.5
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European Tech Alliance demands safeguards for digital service audits

2 Jun 2023
Topic — Draft rules for independent audits of very large online platforms and search engines.
Message — The alliance calls for clearer data access rules to protect trade secrets and sensitive information from exposure. They suggest that platforms should only receive negative audit results for major violations rather than minor administrative errors.12
Why — These measures would protect their competitive secrets and shield their market reputation from minor compliance failures.34
Impact — Regulatory bodies lose the ability to mandate full transparency and enforce strict accountability for individual rule breaches.5
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Meeting with Alin Mituța (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

1 Jun 2023 · Data Act

European Tech Alliance urges safeguards for researcher data access

25 May 2023
Topic — The consultation defines rules for researcher access to data from large online platforms.
Message — EUTA requests clear definitions for data requests and protections for trade secrets. They also advocate for reasonable timeframes and liability exemptions for data misuse.12
Why — This would protect their commercial secrets and reduce the high costs of data extraction.3
Impact — Academic researchers face greater administrative hurdles and delays when seeking access to platform information.4
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Meeting with Eleonora Ocello (Cabinet of Commissioner Thierry Breton), Maurits-Jan Prinz (Cabinet of Commissioner Thierry Breton)

23 May 2023 · Introductory meeting, DSA, DMA, AI Act

Meeting with Axel Voss (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

30 Mar 2023 · AI Act

Meeting with Margrethe Vestager (Executive Vice-President) and

22 Mar 2023 · DSA, DMA

European Tech Alliance urges proportionate and clear DSA enforcement rules

16 Mar 2023
Topic — This consultation details procedural arrangements for enforcing the Digital Services Act.
Message — The enforcement approach must be proportionate and include appropriate safeguards for businesses. Procedures must be feasible for platforms by setting reasonable time limits. Vague terms like sensitive documents must be clarified to provide certainty.123
Why — This would protect European tech champions from unfair regulatory burdens and fines.45
Impact — The Commission would face stricter limits when investigating potential platform violations.6
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Response to Methodology for the calculation of the supervisory fee provided for in the Digital Services Act

19 Jan 2023

The European Tech Alliance (EUTA) hereby wishes to provide a short statement as part of the public consultation on the draft Delegated Regulation laying down the methodology for calculating the supervisory fee applicable to Very Large Online Platforms and very large online search engines (altogether referred to as VLOPs) pursuant to article 43 of the Digital Services Act (DSA). Please find our contribution attached. The EUTA is concerned that an inconsistent or overly broad interpretation of who constitutes active recipients of services could lead to ill-targeted comparisons between companies using very different definitions and misleading information to consumers, investors and regulators. In turn, it will lead to inaccurate and distortive calculations of the supervisory fee. The EUTA strongly recommends the following: --> The European Commission should clarify that it doesnt refer to visitors but to 45 million active and engaged users or customers. --> It is of crucial importance to align on a EU-wide, common and consistent understanding around the notion of engagement and activity in technical terms, while allowing the necessary room to consider the specificities of each sector of activity or business model. --> This inconsistency or overly broad interpretation creates an unequal playing field regarding which platforms will become VLOPs and how high their supervisory fee will be. --> It is all the more important as the VLOP category starts to be considered for other pieces of EU legislation, potentially out of context (ex: Consumer Credit Directive, Political Advertising, Media Freedom Act).
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Response to EU Competition law – revision of the market definition notice

16 Feb 2022

The EUTA welcomes the revision of the Market Definition Notice. Along with the Digital Markets Act it can help create a contestable and competitive digital single market where companies will be able to scale and offer attractive alternative products and services to both businesses and consumers. This revision is necessary given that the previous text dates from 1997 and in view of the dynamic growth of the digital economy and ecommerce in particular in the last 25 years. In our view the revision of the market definition notice should provide clarity and transparency on the approach to market definition in antitrust and merger cases while facilitating the development of cross border activities (esp. M&As) and thus the creation of the actual digital single market. The current approach to assessing relevant markets is still very focused on national markets and does not take into account the borderless nature of the digital economy and the pressure by existing or future competitors from other jurisdictions. This results in some cases in disproportionate scrutiny on local vs global players and may also hinder growth and competition at the EU and global level. Local tech companies face fierce competition from global platforms. Because of the nature of the digital economy, defining digital markets based on geographic boundaries does not fully take into account how platforms compete and may wrongly limit the ability for European tech companies to further grow and challenge global tech giants. This is particularly relevant since tech companies outside of Europe face fewer regulatory requirements. They can easily challenge local and potentially successful players by entering local markets, subsidizing their activities (thanks to their vast resources) and offer in the short term extremely low prices to gain market share and raise prices once the local player is defeated. Relevant markets should be defined in a manner that takes into account the global context, new omni-channel dynamics, technological developments, and potential competitors active in other markets and which facilitates mergers and acquisitions of local and regional tech companies.
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Meeting with Gints Freimanis (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis) and Booking.com B.V. and

21 Jan 2022 · Discussion in light of the October OECD statement and the agreement on digital services taxes

Meeting with Thierry Breton (Commissioner) and

8 Dec 2021 · Exchange on EU digital legislation: DSA/DMA and EU tech opportunities and challenges

Meeting with Barbara Herbolzheimer (Cabinet of Commissioner Johannes Hahn)

6 Dec 2021 · Proposal for a package of New Own Resources

Meeting with Axel Voss (Member of the European Parliament)

19 Oct 2021 · Artificial Intelligence

Meeting with Filomena Chirico (Cabinet of Commissioner Thierry Breton)

7 Oct 2021 · Tech regulation and impact on start-ups & scale-ups

Response to Review of the general product safety directive

4 Oct 2021

The European Tech Alliance (EUTA) welcomes the European Commission’s revision of the General Product Safety Directive. The new proposal for a Regulation on General Product Safety (GPSR) aims at strengthening consumer protection by ensuring that only safe products are sold on the EU internal market. The proposal creates a modernised safety net for harmonised and non-harmonised products and more consistency within the EU in the way market surveillance authorities cooperate. We perceive the GPSR as an important element to complete modernisation of the EU product safety legal framework.
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Meeting with Didier Reynders (Commissioner)

27 Sept 2021 · DSA & GPSD

Response to Requirements for Artificial Intelligence

23 Jul 2021

The European Tech Alliance welcomes the European Commission’s proposed AI Act as a good balance between supporting much needed AI innovation in Europe and having safeguards in place to ensure high safety standards and public trust in AI. We welcome the EU’s leadership in creating an AI regulatory framework while supporting Europe’s global competitiveness in that field. For EU businesses, many of whom operate cross-border, it is crucial to have a single set of EU rules on AI rather than a fragmented country-by-country approach. With this in mind, we set out some key points attached that we believe are important for Council and Parliament to take onboard during discussions on the AI Regulation.
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Meeting with Alina-Stefania Ujupan (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager)

17 Jun 2021 · Digital taxation

Meeting with Gints Freimanis (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis) and Fleishman-Hillard and

16 Jun 2021 · Digital levy

Meeting with Kim Jorgensen (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager), Werner Stengg (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager)

8 Apr 2021 · Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, Artificial Intelligence

Response to Requirements for Artificial Intelligence

10 Sept 2020

In February 2020, members of the European Tech Alliance (EUTA) joined forces to publish the EUTA High Level Principles on AI ahead of the publication of the European Commission’s White Paper on AI. EUTA members strongly believe the EU has the potential to become a world leader in AI. Europe benefits from a vibrant ecosystem of top academic talent, leading AI research labs and an ever growing number of AI-driven start-ups. This fruitful ecosystem is supported by industry best practices and the strong fundamentals of the EU's regulatory architecture. Against this backdrop and our contribution to the public consultation on the AI White Paper last Spring, we welcome the opportunity to share the following comments, attached, on the European Commission’s inception impact assessment “Artificial Intelligence – Ethical and Legal requirements”
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Response to Legislative framework for the governance of common European data spaces

29 Jul 2020

The European Tech Alliance (EUTA) welcomes the opportunity to provide preliminary feedback to the European Commission on its roadmap for Data Sharing in the EU - Common European Data Spaces. For more detail, we kindly invite the Commission to read our full position on the issue of data sharing and access, annexed to this submission. The EUTA brings together and gives a voice to the major European digital champions, scaleups and leading startups. We believe that Europe is great at tech and our sector is driving jobs and growth across the continent, including through the innovative use of data. We agree with the Commission that the central objective of this initiative should be to create the appropriate conditions for data sharing among public bodies, companies and individuals who wish to do so. We recommend that the following principles underpin the development of common European data spaces in particular: Data Sharing should be Voluntary - that enables European companies to prosper and grow, ensuring this is done in fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. We agree with the Commission that mandatory requirements should be avoided except for very specific reasons of market failure. Voluntary And Responsible Data Altruism - it will be important that future data initiatives address the scope of what sectors Data Altruism can be applied in while ensuring businesses are not burdened with costly compliance measures. A Harmonised Legal Framework - It is imperative that this framework does not favour the technical architecture of certain market actors as this would risk further distorting the market. Such a framework should also be prioritised in order to make public data available in a useful format and manner. We share the Commission’s view that data brings major and concrete benefits to citizens and the European economy, and that the EU has a role to play in creating the right conditions for this to happen. As data-driven European businesses, we look forward to working with the EU towards these common objectives going forward.
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Response to Digital Services Act package: ex ante regulatory instrument of very large online platforms acting as gatekeepers

30 Jun 2020

European Tech Alliance position on Digital Services Act Impact Assessment: ex ante regulatory instrument of very large online platforms acting as gatekeepers We are grateful for the opportunity to comment on the European Commission’s Inception Impact Assessments on DSA initiatives. In this paper, we provide preliminary remarks on the proposals to ‘deepen the Internal Market and clarify responsibilities for digital services’ and an ‘ex-ante regulatory instrument for large online platforms with significant network effects acting as gate-keepers’. Ex-ante regulation for gatekeeper platforms EUTA members welcome the Commission’s effort to develop ex-ante rules for globally dominant systemic platforms, defined at EU level, to strengthen EU’s competitiveness and empower innovation. We firmly believe that healthy competition must be on the merits of our services, not based on rules set by globally dominant systemic platforms. Anti-competitive behaviour forecloses growth opportunities for European companies, hinders innovation, and limits consumer choice. e-Commerce The EUTA welcomes the European Commission’s efforts to clarify the responsibilities of digital services and to deepen the Digital Single Market. EUTA members are convinced this is a critical opportunity to promote the growth of digital services throughout Europe, protect internet users against illegal activity online, and prevent the fragmentation of rules at national level. The current lack of legal clarity around responsibilities undermines a level playing field. To achieve that level playing field, the new regulatory framework should cover third-country players targeting EU consumers. The effective enforcement of the new rules will also be key to create a safer online environment, ensuring all platforms active within the Single Market uphold their responsibilities. The e-Commerce Directive has underpinned the emergence and growth of the European digital economy and EUTA member companies. We agree that its underlying principles remain valid and should be preserved. We also recognise that the increased variety of digital services as well as the considerable growth of activities online over the past 20 years call for a modernisation of the Directive. Digitalisation of European companies needs to be a central goal of the new regulatory framework for digital services. In order to best address existing concerns while preserving a dynamic digital single market, the EUTA agrees on the need to clarify and harmonise the obligations of platforms. We call for a clear reaffirmation of the core principles of the e-Commerce Directive (Country-of-Origin, the limited liability regime and the prohibition of a general monitoring obligation). It is of paramount importance that online platforms do not lose their limited liability when taking measures to tackle illegal content online. Indeed, the principle of limited liability enables online services to grow and is a critical safeguard against violations of fundamental rights. If platforms were to become automatically liable for the content they host, they would likely take an overly prudent approach to removal. We support a risk-based approach to new obligations to ensure flexibility and proportionality. Fundamental differences in business models and types of illegality that can occur online must be taken into account, and there should be a clear separation between illegal and harmful (but legal) content, with the DSA framework limited to illegal content. The Digital Services Act will have a decisive impact on Europe’s tech ecosystem. EUTA members seek to provide a unique perspective from the European tech ecosystem and stand ready to contribute to the DSA discussions, including by taking part in this public consultation.
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Response to Digital Services Act: deepening the Internal Market and clarifying responsibilities for digital services

30 Jun 2020

European Tech Alliance (EUTA) position on Digital Services Act Impact Assessment: deepening the Internal Market and clarifying responsibilities for digital services We are grateful for the opportunity to comment on the European Commission’s Inception Impact Assessments on DSA initiatives. In this paper, we provide preliminary remarks on the proposals to ‘deepen the Internal Market and clarify responsibilities for digital services’ and an ‘ex-ante regulatory instrument for large online platforms with significant network effects acting as gate-keepers’. e-Commerce The EUTA welcomes the European Commission’s efforts to clarify the responsibilities of digital services and to deepen the Digital Single Market. EUTA members are convinced this is a critical opportunity to promote the growth of digital services throughout Europe, protect internet users against illegal activity online, and prevent the fragmentation of rules at national level. The current lack of legal clarity around responsibilities undermines a level playing field. To achieve that level playing field, the new regulatory framework should cover third-country players targeting EU consumers. The effective enforcement of the new rules will also be key to create a safer online environment, ensuring all platforms active within the Single Market uphold their responsibilities. The e-Commerce Directive has underpinned the emergence and growth of the European digital economy and EUTA member companies. We agree that its underlying principles remain valid and should be preserved. We also recognise that the increased variety of digital services as well as the considerable growth of activities online over the past 20 years call for a modernisation of the Directive. Digitalisation of European companies needs to be a central goal of the new regulatory framework for digital services. In order to best address existing concerns while preserving a dynamic digital single market, the EUTA agrees on the need to clarify and harmonise the obligations of platforms. We call for a clear reaffirmation of the core principles of the e-Commerce Directive (Country-of-Origin, the limited liability regime and the prohibition of a general monitoring obligation). It is of paramount importance that online platforms do not lose their limited liability when taking measures to tackle illegal content online. Indeed, the principle of limited liability enables online services to grow and is a critical safeguard against violations of fundamental rights. If platforms were to become automatically liable for the content they host, they would likely take an overly prudent approach to removal. We support a risk-based approach to new obligations to ensure flexibility and proportionality. Fundamental differences in business models and types of illegality that can occur online must be taken into account, and there should be a clear separation between illegal and harmful (but legal) content, with the DSA framework limited to illegal content. Ex-ante regulation for gatekeeper platforms EUTA members welcome the Commission’s effort to develop ex-ante rules for globally dominant systemic platforms, defined at EU level, to strengthen EU’s competitiveness and empower innovation. We firmly believe that healthy competition must be on the merits of our services, not based on rules set by globally dominant systemic platforms. Anti-competitive behaviour forecloses growth opportunities for European companies, hinders innovation, and limits consumer choice. The Digital Services Act will have a decisive impact on Europe’s tech ecosystem. EUTA members seek to provide a unique perspective from the European tech ecosystem and stand ready to contribute to the DSA discussions, including by taking part in this public consultation.
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Meeting with Filomena Chirico (Cabinet of Commissioner Thierry Breton)

19 May 2020 · Digital priorities and the DSA

Meeting with Michele Piergiovanni (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager)

11 Dec 2019 · Competition policy

Meeting with Stig Joergen Gren (Cabinet of Vice-President Andrus Ansip)

7 May 2019 · DSM legacy

Meeting with Laure Chapuis-Kombos (Cabinet of Vice-President Andrus Ansip), Maximilian Strotmann (Cabinet of Vice-President Andrus Ansip)

25 Oct 2018 · DSM in general, ePrivacy, P2B

Meeting with Mariya Gabriel (Commissioner)

5 Jul 2018 · Scale-ups in the Digital Single Market

Meeting with Stephen Quest (Director-General Taxation and Customs Union) and Google and

7 Mar 2018 · Meeting to discuss digital taxation

Meeting with Pierre Moscovici (Commissioner) and Google and

7 Mar 2018 · Meeting to discuss digital taxation (also with representatives from Deezer and Volumental)

Meeting with Andrus Ansip (Vice-President) and

9 Nov 2016 · Startups

Meeting with Ann Mettler (Director-General Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action)

30 Jun 2016 · Digital Single Market