Reports indicate that European Union (EU) governments may look to curb new tech rules during a time when Democrats in the U.S. are looking to push more regulations onto providers.
Politico reported that a draft of EU digital policy calls on the next European Commission to strongly consider not drafting new technology-related laws. That commission serves as the EU's politically independent executive arm, and is alone responsible for drawing up proposals for new European legislation.
While the draft emphasizes the importance of establishing safeguards that protect children online, it also details the raft of rules that have been adopted in Europe in recent years. These include the Digital Services Act, Digital Market Act, Date Governance Act, Data Act and Artificial Intelligence Act. The draft “underscores the need for the Commission and the Member States, to explore synergies and adopt a holistic approach in enforcing those acts, with a view to ensuring convergence, coherence and coordination and to avoiding the fragmentation of the EU’s digital ecosystem as well as to ensuring legal clarity and security and to reducing the administrative burden.”
More notably, the proposal “underlines the need to carefully assess any new legislative act with a view to preventing the risk of hampering the establishment of an agile and innovation-friendly European ecosystem.”
Critics would argue that current heavy-handed regulations have hampered the European technological ecosystem. Crucially, some of the biggest bandwidth users such as Netflix and YouTube were asked to slow speeds during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to mitigate the heavy increase in user traffic when residents were forced to work and recreate from their homes. No such throttling was needed in the U.S. due to the country’s more robust infrastructure built under fewer government restrictions.
Despite those real world lessons, the Democratic-controlled Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the leadership of Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, has looked to Europe for inspiration. Shortly after gaining a 3-2 majority on the commission after the appointment of Anna Gomez in September, the FCC has approved or initiated proceedings to assert more federal government control over the internet via reimplementation of Title II rules and the creation of digital discrimination rules that partially serve as de facto price controls. Now, as the U.S. under the current regime pushes for more centralized power, the EU may move in the opposite direction.
Additionally, a group of Democratic senators that include Senate Finance Committee member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights chair Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) are urging President Biden to reject any trade or policy proposals from Big Tech that deem the Digital Markets Act to be discriminatory or an illegal trade barrier. The Federal Trade Commission is also working with EU regulators to implement that act.
The EU proposal “encourages the Commission and the Member States to thoroughly analyze the hurdles within the regulatory landscape, to ensure a robust future of Europe’s digital infrastructure that can foster innovation” with the growth of fiber and 5G wireless networks. The proposal also suggests that the commission and EU members should establish a policy framework for 6G research, development, and deployment as it prepares for the sixth generation of wireless technology.
The FCC under Rosenworcel has unsurprisingly moved in the direction of more regulations, but history has proven that a light touch fosters more innovation and investment. It is encouraging to see the EU potentially move away from stringent rules. One would hope the FCC could also reverse course.
What is happening in the tech and telecom sectors in the EU are clear and strong warning signs of what not to do in the United States. The question is whether or not U.S. regulators will learn from the EU’s mistakes.
