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In February 2023, the European Commission proposed a regulation aimed at reducing the cost of deploying gigabit electronic communications networks, and repealing Directive 2014/61/EU (the Broadband Cost Reduction Directive). After three rounds of trilogue meetings, the Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on the text in February 2024, and now need to formally adopt it. Parliament is scheduled to vote on the text during its second April plenary session.

In February 2022, the European Commission tabled a proposal for a regulation laying out harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (the data act). During its first November 2023 plenary session, Parliament is set to vote on the political agreement reached in negotiations with the Council.

This study addresses cross-border restitution claims to looted art, considering Nazi-looted art and colonial takings, but also more recent cultural losses resulting from illicit trafficking. Although these categories differ considerably, commonalties exist. The study highlights blind spots in the legal and policy frameworks and formulates recommendations on how these could be bridged. This study was commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional ...

The EU's digital decade connectivity target aims at ensuring a fixed gigabit network (1 Gbps) covers all EU households, and for 5G coverage for all populated areas by 2030. A high-quality digital infrastructure based on such very high-capacity networks would underpin almost all sectors of a modern and innovative economy. The long-term success of a digital economy based on the internet of things, machine-to-machine technologies, cloud computing and big data, will crucially depend on access to the ...

Although the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) pursues a range of aims, the two main ones are the lowering of inflation by removing purchasing power from the US economy, and to provide the United State's contribution to fighting climate change. Unlike similar EU measures, most of its climate support is done via tax subsidies. Although hailed in the EU for heralding a new era in US climate policy, the IRA is being criticised for its outright 'Buy American' provisions. Amongst others, it is feared that ...

On 23 February 2022, the European Commission unveiled a proposal for an EU regulation – the data act – laying down harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data. The aim is to remove barriers to consumers and businesses' access to data, in a context in which the volume of data generated by humans and machines is increasing exponentially and becoming a critical factor for innovation by businesses (e.g. algorithm training) and by public authorities (e.g. shaping of smart cities). The proposed ...

With the current pace of technological innovation, it is clear that the volume of data being exchanged is larger than ever and will only continue growing. The EU's ambitious connectivity targets are pushing policymakers to take a more forward-thinking approach to the telecoms sector. One question EU decision-makers must answer is whether the main digital players, who generate huge volumes of traffic and revenue using the EU's telecoms infrastructure, should contribute to the cost of network roll-out ...

The war in Ukraine has put Europe's dependence on energy imports under the spotlight. The United States (US) has stepped in and pledged to increase its exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe. While this helps address the shortfall in energy imports from Russia in the short term, it raises the question as to how far the EU wants to build an energy partnership with the US. Closely intertwined with the energy challenge is the fight against climate change. With the European Union (EU) committing ...

The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.

Recent events have multiplied concerns about potential fragmentation of the internet into a multitude of non-interoperable and disconnected 'splinternets'. Composed of thousands of compatible autonomous systems, the internet is by definition technically divided. Yet, the internet was also designed to be an open and global technical infrastructure. The unity and openness of the internet appear to be under great pressure from political, commercial and technological developments. This report explores ...