All publications by Claire Filliatre

On May 29, 2024, the European Commission unveiled the Artificial Intelligence Office aimed at “enabling the future development, deployment and use of AI in a way that fosters societal and economic benefits and innovation, while mitigating risks”.

This new Office will play a key role in implementing the European Artificial Intelligence Act, strengthen the development and use of safe and trustworthy artificial intelligence, and positioning the European Union as a leader in international discussions.

Google has agreed to pay a substantial new fine of €250 million to the French Competition Authority for failing to comply with its commitments regarding related rights (also known as neighboring rights).

Law No. 2019-775 of July 24, 2019 “on the creation of related rights for the benefit of news agencies and press publishers”, that transposed Directive (EU) 2019/790 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market, aims at ensuring fair compensation for news agencies and press publishers when their contents are reused on online platforms.

Following approval by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, the new Regulation on the protection of geographical indications for craft and industrial products was published on October 27, 2023 in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation marks a significant milestone in the protection of the names of European craft and industrial products as it creates a single system of protection throughout the territory of the European Union.

On October 16, 2023, the Internal Market and International Trade committees of the European Parliament adopted their position on the future EU Regulation “on prohibiting products made with forced labor on the Union market” (the “Regulation”).

This Regulation was proposed by the European Commission on September 14, 2022, with the aim of combating forced labor and promoting corporate sustainability standards.

On a global scale, the use of forced labor remains widespread, affecting some 27.6 million people worldwide, according to the International Labor Organization (“ILO”).

On September 12, 2023, the European Commission presented a series of initiatives to provide short-term relief to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), boost their long-term competitiveness, and strengthen fairness in the business environment across the Single Market.

The contemplated measures include new proposals for a Regulation on late payments in commercial transactions and for a Directive establishing a head office tax system for SMBs, as well as additional tools to support SMBs throughout their entire business life cycle.

On July 10, 2023, the European Commission adopted its adequacy decision for the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

This decision concludes that the USA ensures an adequate level of protection – comparable to that of the European Union – for personal data transferred from the European Union to US companies under the new Framework.

As such, personal data can henceforth flow safely from the European Union to US companies adhering to the new Framework, without having to put in place additional data protection safeguards.