👓The EU in Transition: Political Stumbling Blocks and Consumer Protection

Bonjour ☕

This edition of La tech est politique explores the political tensions surrounding the formation of the new European Commission and the emergence of a major new consumer protection regulatory initiative: the Digital Fairness Act.

👉The Digital Fairness Act (DFA) is emerging as a significant initiative to bolster European consumer protection against unfair practices. For tech companies and professionals, this new framework could redefine standards for digital interface and service design. For decision-makers, the DFA raises fundamental questions about how existing regulations interact and how competencies are distributed at European and national levels.

Reading time: 9 minutes (1,870 words).

Hot Potato, Beware: For Commissioners-designate, It’s Not Over Yet

Last Tuesday evening, after the Parliamentary hearings of the Commissioners-designate concluded, I set off bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to write a detailed recap. Reality came crashing down like a ton of bricks on my rosy analytical ambitions*: following Teresa Ribera's stormy hearing, Parliament was divided. As this analysis is more politics than tech, I'll keep it brief.

What’s been brewing. The European Parliament put 26 Commissioners-designate through their paces for nearly 80 cumulative hours. Some fared better in their grand oral than others: Henna Virkkunen was right at home in Parliament (naturally, she's been an MEP for 10 years), whilst Glenn Micallef, the inexperienced Maltese candidate who was last in protocol rank but first to face the music, delivered a somewhat... improvable performance.